Thursday, January 29, 2015

Bulletin board fix up

My oldest daughter just made this really good poster board idea.  She had this old poster board in her room, all beat up, and she hot glue gunned the edges to fix it.  Anyway, she fell in love with my old Martha Stewart Living magazines then pinned her favorite pictures from it on the board.

Take a look:

Wednesday, January 28, 2015

Amazing

The other day my oldest daughter randomly asked if she could organize the junk drawer. Why would I to say no to that?  And, she did amazing job!!! She even used a glue gun to repair some of the broken plastic bins and salvaged some cardboard recyclables expertly. 

I am so proud!!!

Work in progress & Challenges

I think we do a fairly good job managing our money but we have a long way to go. As we often do, we recently reviewed our finances. Our childrens college funds and my husband and my retirement funds are considerably lower than it should be. Also, we are far below the Suze Orman (suzeorman.com) recommended eight month emergency savings threshold.

Not really sure these facts qualify me for writing a money management blog.  Well, we are always careful with our money and often go without or make sure we get the best possible deal when we do spend.  But, we have room for improvement. 

Firstly, though we don't have many out right luxuries like lots of eating out or high ticket purchases, I think we can trim some of our personal costs. I'm working on a deal with my husband that I'll cut my luxury costs by half if he cuts his as well.  More on this as it unfolds, I'll let you know what we work out.

Secondly, I will try to only make purchases that are absolutely necessary. Even if it's a good deal...even if I think the kids will like it...even if I know I will get use out of it...even if it's inexpensive, I won't buy it. Each shopping trip is not much but over time, those $10 and $20 purchases really add up.  I will largely be limited to produce buying.

My husband does most of the food shopping since he is near the better and less expensive supermarkets in the burbs as well as Costco.  He usually does an awesome job and  comparison shops and uses coupons I provide. However, when he impulse buys at the store, I feel like it's throwing money away. He thinks that because its food and he or the kids will enjoy it therefore the purchase is wise.  But folks, you and I know that's not really the case and so many items at Costco are pricey.

Challenge:  Getting my well meaning and hard working spouse to say no to the nonessential food items, go generic on the kids favorite cereal, and reduce spending.

Funny Giant Snowmen

I don't know if you can tell, but there are two gigantic snowmen in this picture. One is free standing with a cone on its head and the other is built within a TREE!!  Lol.

Every year after a storm some mystery person or persons make massive snowmen on this Manhattan corner.  Love it!!!

Monday, January 26, 2015

Fixing, mending, repairing


Lately I've been on a tear! Ha ha. I've sewed huge rips and holes in our knit blanket that goes on our couch. The kids love that blanket but have been kind of rough with it. Also, some pillow cases had some rips as well that had to get mended.  Plus a bunch more unglamorous items were mended.  It's true what they say, a stitch in time saves nine.  And, check out the glueing project "after" photos. My husband's shoes should last a little longer now.

Getting to a mending project quickly will always save you time and money. 


Check out the toes, its as good as new.  The black rubber part was coming up.

Here's an upclose look at the repair 

Let it snow

Here in NYC it's a bona fide snow day. "They" predicted snow, the governor told everyone to stay off the roads, schools announced closures in advance for tomorrow, and I even got out of work early due to the weather.

I walk to work in most weather including snow and rain and just bundle up.  It's somewhere between a one and two mile trek to work. I wear Cabella's rain pants (among the best $20 I ever spent), Totes snow boots ($8 from a fabulous kid's resale shop in central NJ), winter coat (it just appeared in my closet), gloves, a funny looking but warm hat, and an umbrella. I went to work this way, walked to my kid's school to retrieve him another one to two miles, then we both walked back one to two miles. Great exercise. Fun. Free. And, there were no busses in sight anyway even if we wanted to take mass transit.

My husband store is closed for tomorrow too so he'll be home with the kids. Tomorrow, I'll probably be the only one in the office.  Why waste a vacation day? And, it's kinda nice to have quite too.

The Jar of Savings

Here's the story...my dining room chairs are mostly all broken. This is our only eating space in the home, so having working chairs are important.  Lol.  I thought I'd just replace the chairs but I can't find any that coordinate.  The set is a Calligaris brand which is mid century modern.  It was never really my taste but I liked that it had a hidden leaf inside and you just pull it out to double the size.  The other day at Costco I saw a really nice set with a hidden leaf (it doesn't pull and click in one move like mine but it is stored under the table which is great).  It has eight chairs and the style is one I really like however, it's ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS!!  It's probably a good deal, but it's still a lot of molah. (I've scoured the internet including Craigslist and cannot find a set I like that is less money.) So, I've started a dining room table and chair fund. So far I added the $10 I earned from selling one set of the kids' old ice skates. It's a start.  Also, I want to teach my kids how to save up for things.  Sometimes you just have to wait to get what you want.  Sigh.

Failure

I thought it would be fun to try sprouting. You know, like alfalfa sprouts. Also, I think I my green thumb was itching since it was winter. I read somewhere recently that it was easy to grow sprouts--simply get a jar fill it with water and sprouts and refill with clean water twice daily. Simple enough. Well, I started before New Year's with high hopes and a seed package from Whole Foods (partially paid for with a long ago purchased Groupon of $10 for $5 deal). Now it's the end of January and pretty much nothing has sprouted. Oh well, I tried. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

US News and World Report, This Simple Savings Rule Will Help You Accumulate Wealth

I came across this article from US News and World Report the other day and I thought it made a lot of sense (or should I say cents).  LOL. Basically, the article stated that if you want to be wealthy, don't spend your raises, bonuses, tax refunds, and other increases in income (including sudden savings like lower gas prices).  Instead, save and invest that "found" money.  Continue living on what you had been.  You do this, the article ascribes, and you'll be wealthy.  Sounds simple enough.

Sunday, January 25, 2015

Ice Skates For Sale

We love to have fun in the winter ice skating at various skating rinks. We're not fancy skaters, just enjoy the thrill of not falling on the ice.  Over the years we've outgrown quite a few pairs of skates.  Sooooooooo, I've listed them on Craigslist (contact me through the Craigslist link if you are interested.)  Lots of nibbles, one sale so far (black double blade, size 10 is sold).  The impending storm has impacted the prospective purchases perchance.  (Ha ha ha.)



UPDATE: Clifton Acme is CLOSING - Sad news, but stock up on % off savings

UPDATE:  Acme us now discounting 30% off.  Many products are excluded including meat.  No coupons can be used. 

My husband just returned from his second stocking up trip.  He purchased a bunch of food such as store brand cereal, Kadem grape juice, balsamic vinegar, and much more.  The store's shelves are becoming bare.



So long Clifton Acme!!


Photo credit:  acmestyleblog.blogspot.com



So bummed.  One of our favorite stores for so many kosher goods is now CLOSING after 56 years!!  High rent, high prices, and competition from neighboring supermarkets are considered the the culprits of it's demise.  They will shut their doors for good next month.  The supermarket has a kosher deli and kosher bakery as it has a large Jewish population nearby.  We even had custom cupcakes done there for my daughter's bat mitzvah.  They were a fraction of the cost of Brooklyn's kosher Costco (which wouldn't even do custom colors) and local bakeries in NYC.  Check out article in the North Jersey News for details on the closing.

Currently many items are 10% off due to the closing.  This does not include the deli or meat departments. There are other exclusions as well.  We stocked up on albacore tuna (the good stuff) that worked out to be 79 cents a can!!  I suspect that as the time ticks closer to the closing date, deeper discounts will ensue.

Friday, January 23, 2015

Human Pin Cushion

My right ear!


I bet you are wondering...what the heck!!  Well, I took a couple of selfies at my last acupuncture appointment.  How is this frugal?  Wellness is always a smart choice.  Plus, cost effective.  The treatments (if out of pocket) are cheaper than a Western doctor.  The teas and other remidies are also much cheaper.  Also, the price of feeling healthy, is well...priceless.  

I've found that acupuncture to be much better alternative to traditional Western medicine for my migraine treatment.  I've been suffering from migraines since I was a kid and they gotten progressively  more frequent as I aged.  I was getting debilitating migraines 6 to 7 times a week, was put on all sorts of daily meds that had lots of unpleasant effects and I STILL got migraines on top of that.  I even tried high doses of magnesium, B2, butterbur and more at the recommendation of my neurologist.  Nothing had a long lasting effect.  Then a friend said she was going to an acupuncturist for her gastro problems and I decided to give it a try.  After about 8 sessions I had dropped from having migraines 6 times a week to 3 or less!!  I still have a neurologist, and still take meds when I get migraines, but for me, acupuncture really made a big difference.  I've also been trying new things too, like medicinal teas and daily herbs. 


And my feet.


If you get migraines, I strongly suggest you go to a neurologist.  Everyone is different and the causes and cures differ for each person.  Plus, there may be some serious, life threatening reasons why you are getting migraine.  Get checked out, make sure it isn't anything serious, then go from there.  If you haven't already, keep a migraine calendar and note what time of day, foods you ate, if you are having your period, and anything noteworthy.  Eventually, you will probably see a trend and a great place to start to managing your migraines.  Good luck.  Let me know how you are doing!!

Thursday, January 22, 2015

Homemade Tortillas...Delish!!

Frugal, healthy, and delicious!
Exhibit A - Tortilla dough, freshly rolled out

If you want to save money (and eat healthy) you are almost always better off making it yourself.  Don't feel like its all nothing.  Start small, see what works for you, then go on from there.  It may be worth it to you to make your own ketchup (a project I'd like to start shortly) or for a small sum, just buy the bottle of tomato goodness and call it a day.  Whatever works.  But, I suggest you T-R-Y new projects, you'd be surprised how easy and doable most of them are.  

This leads me to Exhibit A.  I often (but not always) make my own tortillas (which I use for tortillas, tacos, flat bread, pizza dough, and more).  It's very easy to make.  I've tried several recipes, but the one I've been using most recently is from Food.com.  It only has 5 or 6 ingredients and doesn't require a rise.  This last batch I doubled and used only white whole wheat (rather that all purpose and whole wheat) and subbed olive oil for the canola oil.  It came out great.  Rolling them out is the hard part, but it goes fast.  All the extras go in the freezer, as planned.  (I use the wax paper bag from cereal boxes whenever possible.)  It's free, great quality, food safe.  I have so many uses for them.  (More of this in another post coming soon.)



It's pretty easy.  The hard party is having a small block of time to bang it all out.  I doubled the recipe, so it was a little more work.  I could have frozen the dough and finished the job another day, but I just wanted it done.  I bet if you had a tortilla press it would be much faster.  Hmm.  I love me some kitchen gadgets!!


Tuesday, January 20, 2015

Post Hanukkah Deals

My favorite thing about Christmas is the post Christmas Hanukkah sales!!  I love love love them! When visiting a non-Jewish section of a Cleveland suburb over New Year's, I picked up the goodies below.  And, of course all with the Bed, Bath and Beyond 20 percent coupons on top of the deep discounts.

The local NYC Bed, Bath and Beyond in Chelsea had an excellent Hanukkah selection but I did my best to not buy anything. (It was tough.)  Also, I snagged goodies at Papyrus, the fancy paper good and gift store, where I bought pretty hand dipped menorah candles and gorgeous picture frames for gifts, both (75% off).

CVS sometimes has good deals as does Rite Aid.  I didn't find much there this season but I think others did.  How did you do?

Monday, January 19, 2015

How I celebrated MLK's birthday

Hi everyone,

It's been a few days since my last post.  We are now towards the end of the MLK weekend.  My personal goal was to purge and organize during this time since we have a rare weekend (plus an extra day) of nothing going on.  I was pretty surprised about that but decided to take advantage of it.

The good news is that I got a lot done.  The bad news, to the naked eye, it looks pretty much the same.  Hmph!  I FINALLY got the old ice skates that we've outgrown on Craigslist.  So far no nibbles.  Plus, I went through a particularly nasty corner in my son's room and it looks a little better.
I also cleaned (I cannot believe how dirty it got) and organized my pantry.  It was four shelves of a messiness and disorganization with a smidgen of filth.  Kind of my life and my home, though I'm working through it. LOL.  I was shocked to find I still had tons of powdered and granulated sugar left over from 2013's Black Friday.  The kids and family out did themselves and conquered the supermarket of all their sugars--at my request.  Sugar doesn't go bad, so as long as there are no bugs, is all good.  (Ironically, I'm trying to cut down on processed sugars, but for birthday cakes and such, only the real thing will do.)  I found I also had lots of flours--cake, bread, white whole wheat, whole wheat, and all purpose.  I had some flour already and recently bought much more since I do bread baking and go through it.  Marc's in Ohio has the best prices on specialty flours.  It's a fraction of the price of stores in NY or NJ.  I'm going to put some of them in the freezer before they get bugs.  So, when we went to visit relatives over New Year's, I stocked up.

Oh, I also found a bunch of ancient Jellos so the kiddos wanted to make some.  I even re-purposed the cups from their fruit cups.  Check out the price on the picture of what the Jello cost.  You won't believe it.  Yup, you saw correctly, ten cents!!  One thing I did, in addition to cleaning out the mess, I put down refrigerator liners (which I also use in the fridge).  It really makes clean up so much easier.  For about $1.50 for two liners, it's well worth it.

I also made sushi last night, at the request of my husband.  It's time consuming to do, but fun to make and a HUGE cost savings over the restaurant version.  Typically, I make the sushi rice ahead of time, then freeze it.  I suppose a sushi master chef would cringe, but I ain't no sushi master and no one seems to mind or notice.  I'm out of the sushi rice and had to use the brown rice (I think it may have been brown basmati).  No, it's not traditional, but I did include the sushi vinegar mix, then blended it with the real stuff.  I learned how to make sushi rice from my favorite show, Deals, a book/set I got from Housing Works, and a bunch of youtube videos.
Several other things were tackled like scrubbing a gross area by the fridge, putting away all the laundry, and other small triumphs.


Wednesday, January 14, 2015

Definitely frugal living NYC!

What could be more frugal than teaching your child to sew? Check out the pic of my FL10 sewing up some comfy winter house socks that had holes it them.

Frugal life skills!  Can't beat it.

Monday, January 12, 2015

The Good News and Bad News of My Latest Ice Skating Trip

The good news:  I had a really nice time with my oldest child ice skating this past Sunday. We don't get to spend as much on-on-one time together so, it was especially nice to spend the morning with her. Plus, it was a beautiful day and not too cold.  Check out the cool picture of the frozen fountain!

The bad news:  We just bought skates for her at a used sporting good store while visiting relatives in Ohio. She tried them on there and they seemed fine. However, at the ice skating rink they were very uncomfortable and we ended up having to rent skates after all which cost more than the skates we just bought. :(  And, my hot chocolate which I made that morning from scratch and brought along in my trusty Thermos didn't come out great either.  Boo!  My popcorn was tasty though. 

This is my fourth time ice skating this season.  Woo hoo!!

Saturday, January 10, 2015

$100 for American Museum of Natural History Focus group for Asian NYers


The American Museum of Natural History wants to increase Asian American visitors.  They are having focus groups and paying participants $100.


Please see below for a special request from our Public Programs department here at the American Museum of Natural History. If you are interested in joining the focus group, please contact Denise Poche-Jetter directly at dpoche-jetter@amnh.org.

And keep an eye out for an announcement about the next Meet the Scientist program coming up on February 7th in the Discovery Room. We’ll have more information for you soon. 

Sincerely,
Danny

-
Daniel Zeiger
Senior Manager, Discovery Room and Adventures in Science
American Museum of Natural History
79th St at Central Park West
New York, NY 10024
Tel. (212) 313-7105
Fax (212)769-5329


We have received a grant from the Ford Foundation to help deepen our engagement with and increase access for Asian American communities in the NYC metro area. To that end we are holding focus group meetings to get input from valued members of various communities to enrich our thinking about this project. At this meeting community members will meet to share perspectives on some of their issues, interests, and values. The session will also explore the resources of the Museum and where they align with community interests—we hope to better understand the value proposition of our collections, research, education, and public programs for local Asian American communities.

The focus group session will take place at AMNH on Saturday, January 17th from 10am-1pm.  

Specifically, we are looking for people who:

• Are female caregivers between the ages of 25-45 of children between the ages of 2-17
• Are 1st generation Asian American (born in US)  or new immigrants (not born in US)
and
• Have not recently visited the Museum 

Each participant receives $100.  One of our education specialists will arrange a day of activities for any children accompanying parents.  

Refreshments will be served.

Thank you!

Best,

Denise

Denise Poche-Jetter
Public Programs | Exhibition Education
American Museum of Natural History
Central Park West & 79th Street
New York, NY 10024
P: 212-769-4341

FREE Tickets to Selma for NYC 7th, 8th, 9th Graders




SELMA NEW YORK CITY FREE TICKETS*

7th, 8th and 9th graders can present their student ID or report card at the box office of participating NYC theatre to receive their free ticket to SELMA.

*While tickets last



Check out below for all of details:
http://www.haymakerco.com/selmanyc/

Thursday, January 8, 2015

Is All You magazine worth it?

Almost every magazine we get is from free subscriptions including Rolling Stone, Better Homes and Gardens, Family Fun, Martha Stewart Living, and many more.  In fact, I'm pretty selective about the magazines allowed to come into the house since I tend to hold on to them for a while.

That said, I just purchased two subscriptions.  One subscription is to the overpriced American Girl magazine as a Hanukkah present for FL10 that I got as a school fundraiser from my godchild.  The other is the much touted All You magazine I keep hearing about in so many blogs. Mostly, folks say it's  great for coupons.  Now, I'm not much of a couponer though I give it a try now and again. NYC gets terrible coupons from the coupon flyiers like Smartsource and it's not always possible to get the good coups online. Sometimes I try, but usually I wait for sales and buy then.  However, when All You went on sale for $5, I figured, why not?  So, my second issue came today.  While I liked the content well enough this issue (more so over last issue) there weren't a ton of coupons and not necessarily for products I use. It's early yet, but these are my first observations. 

Any of you enjoy this magazine or find it money saving by way of the coupons?

Winter Foodbox

It's Thursday and the first GrowNYC Winter Foodbox of the year has arrived. It's pretty nice for $10.  This week's batch if produce includes baby leaf lettuce, rainbow Swiss chard, Fuji apples, red cippolini onions, Tokyo baby white turnips, rainbow carrots, and Yukon potatoes.  Plus, I ordered a whopping five pound container of honey for $30 to pick up next week. Sounds like a lot of money but at six bucks per pound for raw honey, that's a good deal.  I've been baking a lot with honey and trying to minimize the intake of processed sugar. 

GrowNYC said that they are now opened to new participants.  I'll post the location and details soon.

I whipped up a dish using the chard, turnips (with the greens), and carrots. It came I out really good, so good that I'll be having it for the next few lunches at work since the kids barely touched it. I pretty much guessed that was going to happen, but it still bums me out.  :(

Anyway, its still a frugal and healthy meal. I even put the scraps in the freezer to make some veggie broth (which I use to make rice and other dishes with).  And, I made a couple of batches of brown Jasmine rice in my handy dandy rice cooker.  I froze the leftover rice to use for fast meals.  This is a great time saver and much cheaper that the boil in bags of rice we used to do before this method.

Wednesday, January 7, 2015

Hanukkah Present Enjoyed





My Frugal Girl age 10 had a nice time making and decorating her Hanukkah present my mother bought her.  It's a lamp that you decorate the shade and it comes with a multicolored light.  Well, this isn't exactly a frugal moment, but I suppose since it's likely my mom got a good deal on the craft, that might qualify.  Any whoooo, FG10 was so pleased with her craft that she filmed it and emailed to her friends and me.  So, I guess it's sort of recycling as I'm posting it here too.  :)  Enjoy.

Tuesday, January 6, 2015

Frugal Move of the Day

This will be a regular feature of Frugal Living NYC.  Periodically, I will include "Frugal Move of the Day" which refers to a particular cheapskate (lovingly stated!) action to save money or get by on less...much less.

Though I am quite proud, I am a little surprised that for my first post in this feature, I am including My Husband's Frugal Move of the Day.  Note that he has not always been frugal, in fact, it's been Y.E.A.R.S in training.  And, the training is NOT complete, however, obviously it is coming along nicely.

For his FMOTD (drum roll please) he paid his NYC parking ticket (that he was unable to get out of even though the ticket was written incorrectly--but so glad he made the effort) with points our bank has for a promotion.  It's some freebie that our bank has that you can use accrued points (not sure how one earns them or what they can be used for) for various purchases.  Well, thank you, Bank.  I don't think this was the original purpose of the points, but it's like free money.  Not that I'm glad he got the ticket, but at least we didn't have to pay for the whole thing.

Monday, January 5, 2015

Success...Ice Skating in Central Park

Wow, what a wonderful day!!!

I took a day off of work to be with my kids, ice skating in NYC's Central Park, and hanging out with friends.  Loved it.  It was a sunny and balmy (for January) to boot!!

Success.

Last minute I decided to join my son's class on a skating trip and took my homeschooling daughter with us.  What a great way to spend the day.  As I mentioned in my previous post, we all had our own skates so the cost was less and the school provided the transportation.  We even were able to have the bus stop near our house on the way back!!  I also brought homemade popcorn and hot chocolate and cups for the class to share.  And, on point, some of the moms and I had a nice chat about frugality and living within our means on the bus ride back!!  Oh yeah.  Great day!

Sunday, January 4, 2015

Fun the frugal way

Tomorrow, I'm going to go ice skating as co-class parent with my son's second grade class. I'm bringing my home schooled 5th grader along for the ride. Since we all have our own ice skates the cost will be minimal. I made popcorn for the class already and prepped the dry ingredients for hot chocolate to be freshly made tomorrow morning.  The weather should be cold but hopefully will have fun.


Who am I?

Hello, everyone.  Let me tell you a little about myself and the reason why I thought starting this website/blog was a good idea.  I live in New York City with my three kids and husband.

Though my husband is not Jewish, we are living a Jewish lifestyle as Conservative Jews such as providing Jewish education for the kids via after school and Sunday classes, celebrating Jewish holidays including a festive shabbat dinner each Friday night, and having a kosher home.  The kids are busy going to religious school, scouts, and doing sports as well as homework, friends, and various other activities.  My middle child is enjoying homeschooling this year (being led by my husband) while my other two are continuing with public school.

I'm really focused on eating healthy and doing so on a budget.  In fact, saving money is my hobby and obsession--always been this way.  Lately, I've been making my own flat bread and hamburger buns as well as continuing to make challah (bread eaten at sabbath meals).  It's fun to bake and find new foods to make that we've otherwise had to purchase. Sometimes the kids help.

I get most of my produce in Lower Manhattan's Chinatown and a particular produce cart near City Hall. For the past month or two I've been able to participate in GrowNYC Winterbox, an initiative to get city dwellers to eat better quality produce. So, every Thursday I pick up a heavy bag of produce and fruit, mostly organic and mostly locally grown food.  I don't get a choice of what they give, you get what you get. But, it's great fun to try to use all the veggies many of which I have never cooked with or seldom use. It's largely been a success, though I do have a bunch of pumpkin-like squashes that I have yet to cook up. I pre-pay for the following week. It's a great deal for just $10; I suspect it's highly subsidized. The program has been so popular they've had to stop taking new members.

I have been keeping a small garden in the summer. This past year I grew lots of basil, tomatoes, and squash plus collard greens, green peppers, celery, and a few others. I'm new to gardening and trying to learn more about it.

The bulk of my food comes from Costco (especially milk, eggs, and cheese) as well as New Jersey supermarkets near my husband's office where he gets the remainder of the necessities.  He does the overwhelming bulk of the shopping (excluding produce). Not to say that we don't have to occasionally run to the market down the block for something we ran out of, but I REALLY don't like doing that. We have not been entirely successful with couponing, although I occasionally give it another try. It's had mixed results.

This blog will be largely focused on saving money. I will share what I've learned along the way (both my successes and and my failures) as well what others have shared. So please send me your advice and picks for having a fun and fabulous frugal lifestyle wherever you live. It's my belief that you can live on less and feel great doing it. So many people think its hard or they "deserve" to buy _______. Just tweak your mindset and you can!!

Money is a funny thing. For some it's a power thing, some need to spend it to feel okay with the world, some truly don't have much at all and it's a struggle to get by, some can get by but don't have much in savings or college funds. It's an interesting and complex issue and something I would like to explore. Buckle your seat belt, folks. The ride has just begun.