Sugar waxing!

As you may have noticed, we don't eat much sugar these days. However, I was able to kill two birds with one stone today, one of which was using up some of that lonely sack of sugar we've had in our cupboard for ages.

The other? My need for cheap, sustainable, and effective hair removal. As most people have probably also noticed, this isn't something I've concerned myself with at all for the past, oh, two years or so. I've been rocking out completely natural for about that long in just about every way possible.

However, sometimes circumstances (such as a sister-in-law's wedding) call for a concession to popular culture in the body-hair-removal department. So, the search was on for an appropriate message to do so.

Matt and I don't really own a razor between the two of us anymore, and I've always hated the stubble much more than just having fuzzy legs (obviously). Plus, these days everything is both expensive and ultra-disposable, and neither of those made shaving a route I wanted to take. Back in my footloose and fancy-free days, before I was a mother, I used to enjoy (OK, wrong word) a good wax--eyebrows, bikini line. The hefty price tag meant I quit that about the time we started saving up for our wedding three years ago. I've dabbled with at-home waxing kits, but they aren't especially cheap either--and I always found them rather messy and skin-irritating, and the wax was hard to get off when I was done.

ENTER SUGARING.

my sugar wax cooling in the fridge

I am really that excited about it.

There are a number of different tutorials on sugaring, but I used this one. The basic recipe is usually the same--sugar, lemon juice, water--but some, like this one, utilize cloth strips, while others require cooking the sugar to the "soft ball stage" and then just pressing on the wax itself and pulling it off. The first method seemed a little more foolproof, so it's what I went with. What I did was:

Combine 1 cup sugar, 2 T lemon juice, and 2 T water in a saucepan
Heat over medium until foamy; hold it there (without boiling over) for about 5 minutes
Pour into a heatproof vessel and refrigerate until warm and sticky (about 15-30 min)
Cut an old piece of muslin or cotton into strips
Apply the sugar wax with a spatula to the area to be waxed
Press the strip down 2-3 times with the hair growth
Holding the area taut with one hand, quickly pull the strip off with the other.

Note: I could have probably made about 1/3-1/2 as much and still had plenty to do my legs, but I'm guessing it will keep awhile in the fridge.

Here's what I love about sugaring:

1) It's incredibly cheap--I used 1 cup of sugar and 2 T of lemon juice, plus an old piece of scrap cloth, for a cost probably under $1. Compare that to the ~$60 and upwards you would pay to get your legs waxed, or the $6-10 you'd pay for a home waxing kit, and you're saving some serious money. Even compared to shaving, the weeks of hair removal I'll get from this single sugaring can't be bought for $1 if you're using conventional razors.

2) It's really effective. While there are still stubborn leftovers that require a quick pass with tweezers, this is also the case for professional waxers, who also utilize the tweezers.

See for yourself:


3) It's long-lasting. I can't say yet how long it's going to last for me, but I'd anticipate at least a few weeks, and summer will probably be over before the regrowth gets serious enough for me to contemplate doing it again. What an investment compared to shaving!

4) It's so easy, and there are absolutely zero chemicals involved.

5) I hesitate to use the word painless, but compared with threading, tweezing, and waxing, it's the least uncomfortable method I've ever used, by far.

6) It's SO EASY to rinse off! Just plain water and that's it! Compared with wax, which you have to painstakingly rub off with oil (which then gets on your clothing), this was a total revelation.

7) Unlike shaving, your hair can (and should) be really long to start with! This might be a possible con for those who like to maintain that sleek appearance, but clearly I don't--so it's perfect for someone like me!

Here are some pointers I learned while doing it:

1) The sugar solution is easier and less uncomfortable to spread on when it's warm and runny, like warmed honey. (I used a rubber kitchen scraper to spread it on, and I poured it from the stove to a Pyrex measuring cup for use.) It also doesn't seem to work as well when it starts to get cooler and stiffer. Pop it in the microwave for 10-15 seconds and it will warm right up.

2) The efficacy really depends nearly entirely on how taut you're able to pull your skin before ripping off the cloth strip. For my calf, this meant smoothing on the strip, then using one hand to grab circumferentially around my leg and pull it as tight as possible, then ripping the strip off with the other hand. With, ah, looser body parts, you're going to want a second pair of hands or likely risk some serious bruising.

3) While your legs (or whatever) will look totally hairless, they may not feel as silky as freshly shaven legs will--since it doesn't scrape the surface, there are tiny hairs that may escape the wax, and it also doesn't provide the same level of skin exfoliation that shaving does. But then again, it also doesn't provide the ensuing bumps and redness, either. I had pretty much zero redness/rash following the sugaring of both legs, which is not something I can say for shaving or waxing.

Happy sugaring!!

Last tomatoes of the season, reason: Freezin'

While I have been aware of the dangers of BPA in water bottles and baby bottles for some time now, it wasn't until I completed a recent project for school that I became aware that one of the most potent sources of BPA (an endocrine disruptor which has been linked to hormone imbalances, diabetes, heart disease, and, most frighteningly, breast and prostate cancer among those who have been exposed prenatally) is in canned foods. And I'm not talking about hearsay from the blogosphere--I'm talking about studies like "Developmental exposure to estradiol and bisphenol A increases susceptibility to prostate carcinogenesis" (from the Journal Cancer Research), "Induction of mammary gland ductal hyperplasias and carcinoma in situ following fetal bisphenol A exposure" (from Reproductive Toxicology), and "Association of urinary bisphenol A concentration with medical disorders and laboratory abnormalities in adults" (from the Journal of the American Medical Association).

We've been soaking and cooking our own beans for awhile now, and so just about the only thing left we buy in tin cans is tomatoes. They're handy for having on hand for a batch of chili, ham mush med, tomato soup, salsa, pizza sauce--the list goes on and on. However, there's evidently only one food supplier so far--Eden Foods, no less--who has chosen to use BPA-free cans (because evidently they cost a few cents more per can, which Eden Foods claims costs them an extra $300,000 a year just for canning beans), and even they still use BPA-lined cans for their tomatoes.

So clearly some sort of action was in order, since the FDA has declined to regulate or ban the substance and the Plastics Council (let alone manufacturers) certainly aren't going to do it voluntarily. Like the solution to many of our problems, this one came in the form of good old Little-House-on-the-Prairie-style self-sufficiency.

So we came up with the great idea to can our own--something we've wanted to do for some time, but, well, have been a little busy. But last weekend we headed up to a farmer's market we like near Gettysburg and bought a bushel (about 45 lbs) of tomatoes for $24. Not bad!

Of course, we bought these on Saturday and by last night (Monday), it was becoming clear that the clock was ticking. It really only then occurred to us that we don't have the equipment for canning and we don't know how to do it. As Charlotte would say (about why a pig can't spin a web): "You lack a set of spinnerets, and you lack know-how." Luckily, we found an easy alternative: freezing. It doesn't require the scrupulous attention to detail or the equipment and lengthy processing that canning does, and the yield--healthfully grown and stored, convenient tomatoes--are essentially the same, with the additional step of thawing. We stored ours in glass jars (pint and quart, which we'd gotten from this little escapade), diced, since the idea of freezing and thawing in plastic bags didn't seem to be much of an improvement over getting them in plastic-lined tin cans.

Freshly picked and waiting

Matt slipping the skins off tomatoes
after blanching them and then immersing in an ice-water bath

the finished product: about 15 quarts of tomatoes, packed in a variety of jar sizes

Now it's easy for me to say, because I was just minding Eden while Matt boiled, blanched, dunked, peeled, juiced, diced, and canned 45 lbs of tomatoes (AND cleaned up the kitchen and loaded the jars into the chest freezer--let's hear it for him!), but it went so well that we're actually considering doing some more.

Fantastic deal on organic lemonade

I don't know how widely applicable this will be--for all I know, our Reston Whole Foods may be the only place it applies. But it's such an awesome deal that it's worth sharing anyway!

A little while back, Moneysaving Mom highlighted this $0.75 off of any 1 Santa Cruz Organic juice product coupon (which I don't think expires until something like December of this year). She reports that these are often on sale at Wal-Mart for $1.25, making them $0.50 a bottle after the coupon. That's an awesome deal in itself--but these past two weeks, our Whole Foods has had the plain lemonade variety (which is our favorite anyway) on sale for $0.99 a bottle--making them $0.24 with the coupon! Each bottle containis 32 oz (4 servings), making them $0.06 per serving! As Crystal from MSM points out, there's no way you could make completely organic lemonade for anywhere near that price. We love this lemonade and have bought probably 15 bottles of it so far (for less than $4!). We keep a pitcher of it going in the fridge, which is great in this hot weather, and have a number of bottles on hand that I'm sure it will be great for rehydrating during and after labor and birth. I think the sale supposedly ends on Tuesday, so we'll probably be stocking up on another 10 bottles or so this weekend.

Note: one of the most helpful things I've learned from Crystal at MSM is that when a coupon says "one per purchase," it's generally understood to mean one per product. Meaning, if you have two products, you can use two coupons. You just can't use more than one per item. I think this is a really common misconception about coupons and, as her site proves, the secret to really saving money when grocery shopping is often to lay in an insanely large stock of things when they're a really good deal--like this lemonade! I've been discouraged by how little couponing and savings are available when shopping for whole organic products out here (coupons tend to be for items like organic macaroni and cheese, nutrition bars, and other things we don't buy, as opposed to fruits, vegetables, and bulk grains), so while lemonade isn't exactly an essential, I'm still stoked to see such a good deal on it.

Saving money on bulk tea

photo by Powerhouse Museum

Matt and I are big fans of tea. Almost every evening we have a cup after dinner, and we often have one in the morning too. Traditional Medicinals is our favorite brand, and we've long been loyal to their Pregnancy Tea and Lavender with Chamomile versions. They're decently priced from Amazon--about $25 for 6 boxes of 16 bags, which comes out to about $0.25 a cup--but when you have two people drinking it once or twice a day, that's anywhere from $15 and upward a month, which gets pricey. The other thing we never liked was having to throw away our teabags (which you can compost, if you have a compost heap) and recycle so much packaging.

Enter the Bulk Herb Store, which I learned about from Tammy's Recipes. They have awesome prices on bulk herbs, by far the best we've found. They also have a Mama's Red Raspberry Leaf Brew, which contains alfalfa and nettles and peppermint (in addition to red raspberry leaves) and is practically identical to Traditional Medicinals' Pregnancy Tea. It's sold for $7.20 per half pound (8 oz), and by weighing a TM teabag I determined that there's less than 1/10 of an ounce of tea in each teabag. That means that a half pound of loose tea should yield over 80 cups of tea, at a cost of around $0.09 a cup. The lavender chamomile tea is comprised of those two herbs, plus lemon balm, which we ordered from the Bulk Herb Store at the following cost:

Lavender flowers 1/2 lb ($3.55)
Lemon Balm 1/2 lb ($6.40)
Chamomile flowers 1/2 lb ($4.20)

So we paid under $15 for a pound and a half of herbs, which should yield about 240 cups of tea, dropping the cost of that particular beverage to around $0.05 a cup. From what I can tell, adding on $8 for shipping takes our average cost per cup back up to $0.09 for both kinds of tea--still over a 50% savings from teabags, and we create a lot less waste in the process. Plus it's kind of fun to mix up our own loose-leaf tea; we have both a tea ball and a tea infuser which both work quite well.

Weekend Update

So far we've been having an excellent weekend. Friday night, we kicked off birthday weekend (my birthday is on Tuesday) by redeeming my free birthday noodle bowl from Noodles & Company. There was a Baskin-Robbins a few blocks away and so we were also able to scoop up my free birthday cone as well. We came home and rented Elektra via iTunes to cap off the night. The tab for dinner, dessert, and a movie? $8.48. Well within the confines of a $10 date!

Elektra was OK--entertaining, but riddled with plot holes and completely in a different vein than its companion film Daredevil, which we enjoyed last weekend. And renting from iTunes is something I think we're going to stop--the selection isn't what we had hoped it would be, it takes us four hours to download a single movie at any time of day (which I think maybe has something to do with our internet plan, but who knows), and at $2.99 a movie, it's cheaper than the movie store but more expensive than renting a movie per weekend through Netflix. I know we just canceled our Netflix policy, but we're actually considering going back...who knows. The weather is nice again, so we may not.

Yesterday we went to a free "Cloth Diapers 101" session put on by a nearby small business owned by a local mom. We learned an absolute ton, had a wonderful time, and came away with some really helpful ideas. The owner is so helpful and knowledgeable, and it's always wonderful to find a resource like that nearby.

It broke the $10 date rule, but we'd saved up for a little bit to go out for lunch to our favorite Indian buffet. It did not disappoint, although the fact that I got a turmeric stain on my new favorite maternity tank top did...we're still trying to work on that. The lunch was delicious and, of course, necessitated a nap once we got home. I also wasn't feeling great yesterday--I seemed to be retaining a lot of water. My hands, feet, and face felt painfully puffy, and so we spent the afternoon at home, resting and drinking lots of fluids. Today, my wedding ring is fitting just like old times, and I no longer feel like the face in the mirror is twice the size of what I'm used to looking at. I think being on my feet for long shifts on Thursday and Friday had just taken its toll on me. Luckily, I've been blessed with a wonderful husband who will encourage/force me to lie down, put my feet up, and rest at times like these, and it seems to have been just what I needed.

Today, we got up and had the usual Sunday crepe buffet and plan to spend much of the day getting our apartment organized. We made a really fruitful trip to the dumpster behind our building last night and came up with a bookshelf, a 13-gallon kitchen trash can that we'll use for recycling (we're currently using three office-sized wastepaper baskets, which are really a pain because they fill up so fast), two brooms and a dustpan, a vacuum (which Matt cleaned out and now works just great), a small folding table (so we don't have to set beverages on the floor when we watch movies and pray the cats don't knock them over), and three huge blue glass canisters that will be GREAT for storing grains etc. There was also an entertainment center which I really wanted pretty badly, but that sucker was incredibly heavy and being almost six months pregnant, I'm somewhat less willing to strain myself moving heavy furniture than I might otherwise have been. We took it as a sign and left it for someone with a more able-bodied accomplice. We also received a free Pump in Style double electric breastpump off Freecycle, which is around a $300 value. We'll just need to purchase new tubing and accessories (the only parts that actually come in contact with your body or your milk) for a cost of around $30. What a day!

Toilet paper post: cleanup lap

photo by Pygo

I didn't realize when I posted about our cloth wipe adventures on Sunday that the New York Times had just printed an article about the very wastefulness of wiping one's ass with virgin timber. Here it is. (You might have to create a login to view the whole article, but it's free and they don't send you any spam.) An excerpt:

...fluffiness comes at a price: millions of trees harvested in North America and in Latin American countries, including some percentage of trees from rare old-growth forests in Canada. Although toilet tissue can be made at similar cost from recycled material, it is the fiber taken from standing trees that help give it that plush feel, and most large manufacturers rely on them.

The focus of the article is the switch to recycled toilet paper, but personally we feel like that's a distant second-best to not generating more paper waste at all by using cloth.

On a similar note, click here for a visual representation of the waste you can eliminate by switching from disposable menstrual products to a reusable cup like the Keeper. I have to say-- makes me miss mine a little bit!

Cheap Dates...

Matt and I both are, and also enjoy going on them. While we've cut back as much as we can financially lately, we've also tried to make allowances for little luxuries here and there that don't cost too much, but keep us from losing our motivation to stay frugal.

Dates that cost us under $10 are one good way to do it. Recent opportunities: free pancake day at IHOP, on which we got up early and went out to IHOP to each enjoy a free short stack of (read: 3 giant buttermilk) pancakes. We also got there early enough to qualify for the early bird specials, one of which was 2 eggs, 2 slices of bacon, 2 sausage links, hash browns, and toast for $4.99--which was more than enough for us to split. The only "request" IHOP made was that their patrons "consider making a donation to the Children's Miracle Network." Well, we honestly did consider it, but we also considered that our charity budget had been spent elsewhere, and the fact that our waitress was likely to get stiffed on tips all day because everybody was getting pancakes for free. So instead we gave her a $5 tip and still came in right at $10--not bad at all for such a robust breakfast, and we had a great time doing something so weekend-ish on a Tuesday morning before Matt went to work.

Tonight we're going for free chili at the Hard Times Cafe. We've never been before, but I heard on the radio yesterday that tonight everyone gets a free bowl of chili with any purchase. I'm figuring that one of us can get a side of fries and the other can get a dessert, and that will again be plenty to share and should clock in at under $10 with a tip. I also got a coupon for a free Chili Mac (which seems to be chili and cheese over pasta) for joining their email club, which we can either save for another time or use tonight, should we still be hungry after all that.

It's nice to be able to fit in a few outings a month like this for less than it would usually cost for one meal out, if we did so with a little less planning. As mentioned above, we do try to build in a decent tip for our server so that we don't look like total cheapskates, and that way everybody comes out ahead.

We Think We Can...

photo by coconinoco

...is what we were saying to ourselves when we received almost 100 free canning jars/lids off of Freecycle. This was exciting, because someday we'd love to have a big garden and can tons of our own food, and hey, we love free stuff.

The catch? These canning jars were full. Of canned food. From 1995.

So after loading them up into the car (pint, quart, 2-quart, you name it), we drove them back to the apartment, hunkered down next to the curb and proceeded to pry the lids off of every single one and dump out the contents. Some, like canned tomatoes, slid out easily. Others, like applesauce, took some hard shaking. And then there was what we termed "black mash"- a black, sticky concoction, like molasses or something, that had to be dug out with a knife. The food we sloshed into a garbage sack (we ended up creating two full yard-waste-sized bags of what looked and smelled like vomit) and put in the dumpster, and the jars we carried in, rinsed out in a sink of hot soapy water, and then ran through the dishwasher. Some of the lids were salvageable while others weren't; we're not sure if they can be reused for canning, but we figured they would work fine for dry storage (grains, beans, flour), which is something else we like to use jars for.

All in all, I'm glad we have the jars, but I'm also glad that's over. And glad that I was in my second trimester when we did it. Now we just have to figure out where we're going to keep all of them.

Tighter Belts

photo by slworking2

And not just because I'm getting bigger around!

Financial belts are more what I'm talking about. It's been a really thin month at the hospital and as a result, I have barely worked at all. It's the culmination of a lot of different factors, but the net effect has been an incredible slimming of our income.

One the one hand, it would be easy to get pretty stressed about this. We were hoping that once the holidays were over, February through June would be our time to lay away a nice amount of money for things the baby might need and for my (unpaid) maternity leave, which will probably be about 8 weeks. It takes a fair amount just to keep our ship afloat in this area, sans extras, and so we've planned to be proactive about saving up enough to take care of it. Based on past months, it seemed like it wouldn't be a problem.

So far, that hasn't been able to happen. What has is that we've re-determined to get back to basics and really live according to our priorities. We canceled our YMCA membership, since we'd really only intended to belong during the winter anyway, and February in Virginia has given us enough 60- and 70-degree days to believe that, while we may still have a few chilly ones left in the next month or so, we can (for the most part) move our workouts back outside. Matt's been walking to work; when I work, I walk too, and when I don't, I walk him halfway and then walk back home. Getting out and seeing things starting to turn green is a lot more refreshing than pedaling a stationary bike anyway, it saves gas (and therefore money), and it's free. Folding-bike shopping trips can't be far behind!

We had also considered going out to dinner for (though not ON--we aren't crazy!) Valentine's Day. There's a French place really nearby that sounds great, and we thought it would be a nice change of pace for us. After sitting down and crunching the numbers, we decided to stay home instead. We aren't even planning to cook anything fancy or out of the ordinary--we realized that our everyday life is really special enough as it is. We're just as happy sitting around eating pasta, watching the Cosby Show (from Netflix), enjoying our cats and listening to Farmer Boy (from the library).

I've also retooled how I do our meal planning--I used to allot a lump sum for the monthly food budget, then plan menus weekly, but without a real eye as to how each meal/week affected the total. It was more based on estimates. You can imagine how that went: we over overspent. In the past, there was cushion in the budget to cover it; now, there just isn't. But now that we're ordering monthly from a food co-op anyway, we've started planning our meals monthly again as well, and I've broken the budget down into what we get from the co-op, what (milk, eggs, meat, etc) we get from local farms, and what is left to spend each week on things like produce and other necessities at the grocery store. We've also started keeping a price list so that we can estimate, before we even go out the door, how much we're going to spend each week and keep it in check that way. (It also helps to KNOW where things are the cheapest, otherwise we have a lazy habit of saying "Well, we're at Whole Foods for salad greens, we may as well pick up x and y and z..." all of which are probably close to a dollar or more cheaper somewhere else.) So far, it's been really helpful to be able to see, for example, that when Mushroom Bourguignon requires $4 worth of mushroom broth and $8 worth of portabellas (to start with), we're probably better off choosing something else--or at least balancing it with lower-cost selections throughout the week and the month. Our favorites aren't necessarily our most expensive meals anyway. And we've found other ways to stretch, too--we can get a pound of local sausage for under $5, and we've realized we really don't need more than a quarter of it to make a good-sized batch of sausage gravy and biscuits. That means we can make it every Saturday (a fun tradition) and only have to buy sausage once a month. We absolutely want to do everything we can do avoid having to sacrifice quality in our food budget, so instead we're doing our best to stretch ingredients and substitute cheaper--but equally healthy--meals as much as we can. Since meat has held even less appeal for me now that I'm pregnant, and we were 90% vegetarian anyway, it hasn't been a problem to limit ourselves to, say, a pound of sausage and a pound of ground beef (which gets split between things like chili and Ham Mush Med) a month. We could easily do without them entirely, but I feel like the extra boost of iron and protein are probably a good thing a few times a month.

We've also resolved not to spend anything for at least the next month that we don't absolutely have to. For example: we're running low on castile soap in the shower. My first impulse is that Dr Bronner's is a great deal on Amazon, and with six bars, then we'd be set for a long time! Then I remembered our promise to each other to avoid ALL unnecessary spending, and I dug around in the bathroom for a couple of minutes until I found four total bars of Aveda, Aveeno, and Burt's Bees (some were samples, some were freebies, and all have the benefit of being healthy, chemical-free soaps). They aren't huge bars, but that should easily last us at least a month, if not several, and will have the added bonus of clearing out some of the clutter in the bathroom. Voila. Next time there's a little bit leftover, I'll go ahead and order the Dr Bronner's. Just not this month.

We had also cut back our charity budget temporarily because, well, it really wasn't there to give. Then last night we were at Trader Joe's and there was a woman standing outside with an index card stating she had lost her job and had nothing to feed her four children. I'm a cynical person by nature, but when it comes to people suffering, I would rather err on the side of being duped than ignore someone who's truly in need. Luckily, Matt feels the same way--without saying anything, we looked at each other, went in, and filled a basket with some basics like rice and beans, pasta and sauce, peanut butter and bread, apples, bananas, and milk. Matt carried them out and we gave them to the woman, who burst into tears. Opportunities like that help us realize that in the midst of feeling like our financial situation is really tight, we have such an incredible amount to be thankful for.

So that's how we're choosing to view the current situation: as an opportunity to take stock of what really matters, and learn to really trust God to give us (and show us) the things we really need.

We've even got a theme song.

Co-operation

Crunchy Domestic Goddess has a post up about how much she loves her newly-discovered organic food co-op. Well, count us in, too. We don't belong to the same one, but we just recently started ordering from Quail Cove, an organic farm and natural foods warehouse on the Eastern shore of Virginia, and we couldn't be happier with it!

Living in Iowa City (and for Matt, prior to that Stevens Point and Madison, WI) we always had the advantage of a local brick-and-mortar co-op (or two). We were disappointed to find that there's no such thing anywhere near us in northern Virginia (or DC or Maryland, for that matter). Our choices for organic and natural foods are pretty much limited to Trader Joe's and Whole Foods. In the case of the first, the selection is pretty limited and there's really no bulk buying available at all; in the case of the latter, the selection isn't always as good as you'd think, and of course everything costs an arm and a leg.

We were delighted to find that the prices at Quail Cove are very reasonable, and there's a drop-off site just 3 miles from our house. It's nice to do most of our shopping for the month all at one fell swoop, and pretty much just run out weekly for fresh produce.

Here was our last month's order:

Organic Russet Potatoes 5 pounds = $4.29
Organic Yellow Onions 3 pounds = $8.91
Organic Garlic Bulb = $7.50
Organic Turnips 1 lb = $1.49
5 lb Organic Orange Sweet Potatoes= $5.00
2 lb Organic Fuji Apples = $3.98
1 lb Natural Vital Wheat Gluten= $2.89
5 lb Organic White Whole Wheat King Arthur Flour= $5.90
5 lb Organic Yellow Corn Meal = $4.50
Mozzarella Cheese Block 6 pounds = $23.94
5 lb Organic Unbleached Flour= $7.80
5 lb Bunker Hill Raw Milk Cheddar = $27.45
1 lb Parmesan Block = $8.89
1 lb Bulk Organic Light Brown Sugar = $1.99

By far our favorite thing was the CHEESE. We ended up with a total of 12 pounds of cheese (mozzarella, parmesan, and raw mild cheddar), and not only were they delicious beyond what we're used to buying in the grocery store, shredding them up yielded close to 30 cups of cheese, with plenty leftover for slicing and snacks. I think it could easily last us another month after this one if we go lightly with it, and it's nice to have such high-quality product without any of the preservatives or additives you usually get with shredded cheese. The flour is also much fresher than what we're used to--the next best thing to being able to grind it ourselves.

Here's Looking at You, Husband

Recently Matt's glasses cracked and it became apparent that he needed a new pair.

We've had terrible experiences with both LensCrafters and Costco, as well as private optometrists, and so we were on the hunt for a better (ie cheaper) experience. I remembered having seen something on Moneysaving Mom about Zenni Optical, and the possibility of getting a pair of glasses for around $8-12 a pair. I consider that site a very trustworthy site, and her review was positive, so we decided to give it a try.

The nice thing about glasses that range from $8-$20 a pair is that you can afford to have a little fun with them. So while we picked out a pair of basic silver frames, similar to what he had before, we also threw in a clip-on sunglasses option, as well as a pair of heavy black plastic frames, the likes of which he had always wanted to try out but had been afraid to commit to. At these prices, though, we could afford to go a little crazy, and plus it's always nice to have a backup pair.

To be quite honest, one of the other nice things about Zenni Optical is that you fill in your prescription yourself. So not only do you not have to leave your house, you don't have to fax or send in something dated within the past year, which is a requirement for most, uh, more conventional optometrists. The idea that I need to have my eyes examined every year, when my prescription has NEVER changed and the only time I've ever had it changed it was a mistake on their part and they had to change it back (to the tune of several hours spent waiting and a few weeks of headaches--both from the eyestrain and the pain in the butt of it all), I've always resented this little racket. Excuse me--they're my eyes, and I think I'll know when I need to have my prescription changed. Until then, you can spare me your vague, time-consuming eye tests! So needless to say, the ability to just point, click, and order was much more appealing than having to make and wait for an appointment, get through and pay for an appointment, and then still have to wait for glasses.

Our total came to $37.80, shipped, and we began to anxiously await them. While they do come from Hong Kong, shipping is estimated at about two weeks, although they can come faster. Here's where things unraveled a little bit. After two weeks went by, Matt called the company; he had an incredibly hard time getting anybody on the phone. Once he did, they gave him a tracking number for the Hong Kong shipping service, which didn't seem to be working. After sending a strongly worded email last week, he received a reply apologizing for the delay, which was apparently due to the long Chinese New Year. (Was it longer than other years? I don't know.)

And today, the glasses finally arrived--I guess it's only been about a week longer than estimated, so all things considered, the wait wasn't really that bad. Costco was going to take two weeks, and we could just have easily run into a delay there. And for what we paid, and the other benefits listed above, we're still very satisfied overall.

How do they look? See for yourself:Can you tell which ones he likes the best?

Study Break!

I was taking a break from studying today (surprise, surprise! --although I actually did get quite a bit done), brooding a little over our finances, not the least of which is that I've gotten called off of work twice this week and also our ING Savings rate has dropped another point. Then I saw that there was $22 left in our charity budget for the month and thought that a little charitable CVS-ing might be just the thing to cheer me up.

And so it was. Here's what I got:

Sure deodorant (3), $2.79 each
Pert Plus Shampoo (1), $3.99
Colgate MaxFresh Toothpaste (1), $2.99
Powerade (1), $1.69
2-pack CVS-brand sensitive-skin bar soap (2), $1.99 each
Not pictured: WellPatch Arthritis Relief Patches (4), $5.99 each

Here are the coupons I had:
$0.75/1 Sure
$1/1 Sure
$1/1 Pert Plus
$1/1 Colgate MaxFresh (CVS coupon)
$5/$30 CVS coupon (printed out when I went in the store and scanned my card)
$2 ECB

Total before coupons: $34 and change
Total after coupons: $22 (right on the money, or what? I didn't even necessarily calculate it out, just took advantage of whatever deals they had. My mom would call that shopping with God)
ECB: $24

Net: -$2

Not bad at all!

The way I did this trip was to take a certain amount of our predesignated charity budget and go to the store (with a list of the sales and my corresponding coupons pulled ahead of time) and see what I could get for it. Anytime I make a list ahead of time, one which intricately requires buying one thing to qualify for another, I am inevitably frustrated when something is out of stock and my plan is derailed. This was much better.

During my first transaction (in which I bought everything except 2 of the WellPatches), the clerk asked me if there were any more WellPatches left because she really depended on them for her arthritis. I told her no, I'd snagged the last two, but that I would be happy to give them to her because I was planning to donate them anyway and wasn't sure whether the shelter would take them. She went back and forth with me a time or two but I could tell she actually did want to take them, and finally she did. She also raved over my receipt at the end, saying "Smart girl! God bless! Look at all these Extra Bucks!" Yes, that's how I was feeling too.

I was bummed that they hadn't had any of the GUM toothbrushes in stock (2-packs for $3.99, free after ECB, limit 5; that's 10 free toothbrushes, and $1.25 in overage after coupons) so I went ahead and went to the other CVS in town. They also didn't have them (bummer), but they did have two more WellPatches, so I went ahead and bought them with my ECB from the previous two, received $11.98 more in ECB, and went back and gave them to the clerk at the first CVS, who was thrilled.

So now I have a net earning of $2 to spend, plus a pile of stuff to donate to the shelter, plus the experience of having personally helped somebody out in a little way. Not bad for an hour's work, and it definitely gave me back some perspective about the value of a dollar--or an Extra Buck.

Super Saver Saturday

Since we're going to be traveling three out of the next three months, and I don't get paid when I don't work, money for luxuries is pretty tight right now. At the same time, all work and no play is no fun. So Matt and I set out today to have as much fun as we could, close to home...for free.

For whatever reason, northern Virginia (and Virginia on the whole) has a ton of wineries. They vary widely in their level of swankiness and how much they charge for a tasting. Our favorite ones have tastings for free.

Today we checked out two. The first was Fabbioli Cellars, a small family-owned winery which is now a new favorite.

We arrived at 11, right when they opened, and were treated to a friendly, low-key, informational (and most importantly, free!) tasting of of several (probably 8 or so) of their wines, from white to red to a port-style pear wine. In addition to grapes, they also grow their own pears and blackberries, which are also featured in some of the wines. Delicious! Like our old favorite the Gray Ghost (whose tastings are also free), we liked just about everything we tasted. We've found that this is kind of a theme; either we like everything at a given place, or nothing. There's rarely an in-between.

The second place we went to was Tarara, which is a winery as well as a bed and breakfast, and offers things like private paddle and wine tours on their manmade lake. It was nice, but clearly catering to an upscale clientele--not really our kind of place. The tastings cost $5-10 per person and since we weren't in the paying market today, we just strolled the grounds a little bit before heading back out.

While we were out and about, we were fortunate enough to stumble upon Temple Hall Farm Park, a working farm which specializes in preserving heritage breeds of animals. AHHHH! Talk about right up our alley!

Me with the aptly named large black hog

Trying to keep up with this peacock, who wasn't so interested in being photographed

Hog nose!

We didn't take part in the pony rides...

but that didn't stop us from getting up close and personal with them!

A friendly goat

An assortment of squash (or are they gourds?)

We spent an enjoyable hour or so interacting with the ponies, goats, chickens, pigs, and turkeys, before we ate the lunch we had packed--Mexican casserole.

Mexican casserole has recently been declared an official binge food,
necessitating consumption with chopsticks

We then hit up a couple of antique stores, not because we planned to buy anything, but just to browse. And take silly pictures.

A few other images that money can't buy:

This evening, we made salmon patties for dinner (more on that later) and then went for a stroll down to Lake Anne. We took in a the sights and visited the Reston Used Book Shop, where we used a store credit we had to buy a used copy of A Sand County Almanac, a hippie classic. Here are some images of Lake Anne at night:

The final tab for the day? $0!

Bargains and Needs

I have an uncle who said to me when I was a kid, "It's only a bargain if you need it." I've often mulled over the powerful wisdom in that basic statement, which was truly revolutionary the first time I heard it.

The Simple Dollar addresses the same idea this week, and I think that for frugally-minded people, it's always a useful reminder. Deal-hunting can become sort of an addiction after awhile, an end in itself rather than a means to actually saving money.

However, I would also add that there's more than one definition for "needing" something. TSD points out that if you can turn a profit on the item, there's a compelling reason to buy it. You may need the extra income it generates. We also feel that something can likewise be a bargain if it's a good deal and someone else needs (or otherwise could use) it. 112 maxipads for $0.27 is a case in point--it fulfills a need for someone else, and satisfies my urge to splurge, however minimally. As long as I keep it within our allotted charity budget, it's a win-win situation.

Maxi-mum CVS Savings!

I headed to CVS this morning to take advantage of this deal. Here's what I bought:

1 Kotex Lightdays (16ct) at $1.49
2 Stayfree Pads (48ct each) at 2/$9

Here are the coupons I used:
$2/10 CVS coupon
$1/1 Lightdays coupon from recent insert
B1G1 Stayfree coupon from recent insert

and also used a $3 ECB. I ended up paying $0.27 out of pocket (it seems like some CVS's won't allow you to go down to zero with ECB--so when my total rang up $2.99, she told me to buy something else or she would adjust it down to the maximum it would allow. Adjusted down, it left me with the $0.27 balance)--and got $6.49 back in ECBs! Best of all, it doesn't look like I've met my limit for this offer, so I'm planning to try it again later this week!

Note: I'm planning to donate the pads to a homeless or battered women's shelter. My love affair with my Keeper cup is still going strong!

Hair Today, Gone...Today

We've posted before-and-after pics of Matt's haircuts before, but this one is different because we took matters into our own hands. Somewhat tired of paying for a haircut which sometimes hit the mark and sometimes didn't (and also realizing that we had been lazily putting off actually going and getting one for some time), we decided that we were up to the challenge of giving Matt a summer haircut on our own.



The result: short, cool, and best of all, FREE. The next challenge will be cutting my hair at home!

Getting Individual Health Insurance: My Experience

You may or may not know that the freewheeling lifestyle as an hourly/PRN (rather than contracted part- or full-time nurse) I currently enjoy is possible in large part because I don't depend on my employer for health insurance. For the past year, I've had insurance through George Washington University, because I prepaid my policy at the beginning of last school year.

But while it's given me insurance in name, at least, I've still wound up paying out of pocket for a variety of things and it's particularly annoying because my primary care provider (PCP) is considered to be GW Student Health: meaning that in order to have a service covered, it needs to either be performed there, or I need a referral from there, which itself requires a face-to-face consultation (even for services that they flat-out don't provide, which is ridiculous). Getting into DC, and getting an appointment, to be seen for something thus becomes at least a four-hour process, and one which 9 times out of 10 I've concluded isn't actually worth it. Honestly, I think I would probably be willing to go without health insurance (something that scares the crap out of people, and rightfully so), but it's a requirement for nursing clinicals and so, perhaps luckily, I'm spared from making that momentous decision. However, my GW insurance expires on the 21st, Frontier doesn't offer insurance, and getting insurance through Matt's work would cost around $300 a month. So I set out to see what I could do on my own.

I was pleasantly surprised by what I found. Though I'm a healthy young person in general, I do have a past history of treatment for depression and stomach problems, and I was nervous that this would preclude eligibility or at least drive my premiums up. That didn't seem to be the case. I started my search on ehealthinsurance.com (there's also an ehealthinsurance.org, which I don't have experience with), which allows one to input several characteristics and choose among various providers. Like many search programs, the results initially returned are those sponsored by "featured providers," but you can click a radio button to "show all results" which will include smaller (and often cheaper) companies.

Three of the major ones I came to consider are Anthem, Humana, and United Healthcare. I ruled out the last one pretty early on, as they were the provider of my current policy and I wasn't impressed. Humana appealed to me because apparently they have a large philanthropic foundation, but their coverage ultimately seemed less comprehensive than Anthem's plans of comparable price, and since we already commit a portion of our budget to charity, it seemed higher insurance premiums would be a somewhat roundabout and questionable way of helping those in need.

So it came down to several Anthem plans with a variety of premiums, deductibles, and features. While some were as low as $60 a month, these plans often didn't cover anything toward office visits, lab tests, or prescriptions until a high deductible was met. Since I'm pretty much locked into an OB-GYN visit (~$100), a Pap smear (~$100), and 12 months worth of birth control (~$420 for generic without insurance) a year, at the very least, it seemed like it might behoove me to opt for a plan that gave some coverage for these items, not to mention a little more padding between me and possible medical/financial disaster. So, I opted for a plan (Anthem KeyCare with Enhanced Drug Benefits) that cost $108 a month which had a $2500 deductible (and out of pocket maximum), a $20-30 copay for various office visits, and a $15/40% copay for generic drugs. That way, I'm not shelling out much more than I would have if the above were my only out-of-pocket expenses for the year, and I'm considerably more well-insured in the case that any other problem were to arise.

Because I read less than favorable reviews of ehealthinsurance.com (including the fact that consumers were getting stuck in an endless volley of shirked responsibility between that company and the one which ultimately provided their insurance), I decided to take this quote right to the source and apply directly through the Anthem website. After completing an underwriting process of providing every detail of my medical history (that I could remember...), I was told that I would hear in 2-3 weeks whether my application had been accepted. The only unnerving factor about the application process was that you had to give a credit card number so they could charge the first month's premium if you were accepted. This doesn't leave room for backing out or changing your mind, and I worried that they would charge a higher amount than I had been quoted. But, I needed health insurance and this was the best deal I could find, so I went ahead and gave it.

Sure enough, in about two weeks I received an automated phone message from Anthem telling me to log into their website and that I would receive a welcome package in the mail within the week, which I did. My credit card was charged for exactly $108, and so far, all seems to be as promised.

Obviously I'm not too far into this process, but for anybody seeking individual health insurance, I'd recommend using a site like ehealthinsurance to compare your options, and then applying directly through the company of your choice. It worked well for me, and I was surprised to find cheaper and more comprehensive coverage than was offered through my place of work or Matt's.

Unfortunately, not everybody is so lucky...

Review: The Keeper Cup (Male or Squeamish Readers May Want to Skip This One)

For the past few months, I've been using the Keeper Cup instead of tampons. And I love it.

For someone frugal-minded who works in women's health who wants to reduce the amount of waste put into the environment, as well as possibly be more in touch with her own body, a menstrual cup is such a no-brainer I can't believe it took me this long. Here are some of the advantages I've noticed:

1) Reduces waste. 14 BILLION tampons, pads, and applicators end up in landfills every year. Do you want to be a part of that? I don't.

2) Fewer health risks. Conventional tampons, even those that are supposedly dioxin-free, have been found to have measurable levels of the chemical dioxin in them. Dioxin is linked to cancer, endometriosis and a variety of other health risks. There are so-called "organic" or 100% cotton tampons, but they have not been demonstrated to be any safer than regular tampons. They're also linked to Toxic Shock Syndrome, most likely because the wicking action of tampons dries out the vaginal walls and creates tiny tears by which bacteria can enter the bloodstream. The cup collects instead of absorbs, so normal vaginal secretions aren't affected. While there is theoretically a possible TSS risk with menstrual cups, it's much smaller than with tampons.

3) Less expensive. The Keeper is $35 and lasts up to 10 years, if not longer. $3.50 a year? That's $0.29 a period! Definitely cheaper than paying full price for tampons, and even gives CVS a run for its money.

4) More convenient? I like the fact that I don't have to worry about "having another tampon" with me at all times. I store the Keeper cup in its cloth bag in a pocket of my work bag, and then it's always around when I need it. You can also insert it proactively, which is definitely contraindicated for tampons; this can be especially helpful for those who experience spotting or irregular and unpredictable periods. While I've tried keeping backup tampons in my purse as well, the wrappers inevitably degrade or the tampons get smashed and it seemed like there was still often not one available when I needed it. This left me begging a co-worker for one, crossing my fingers (and my knees) and going without, or heaven forbid, dropping a quarter in the slot (which often doesn't work!) for, heaven forbid, some kind of crazy SCENTED tampon from a machine. I won't even go into the social and health implications of those. And, you don't have to deal with the embarrassment of flushing a tampon and clogging somebody's toilet or septic tank!

However, I put convenience with a question mark because I know there are those that question emptying the Keeper while anywhere but home. Even somebody as ballsy as I am can't really envision walking out of the stall, chatting lightly with someone while rinsing my menstral cup into the sink, and then waltzing back into the stall to reinsert. Luckily, the Keeper only needs to be emptied about every 12 hours (and I've gone longer), so I empty it before I go to work and when I get home, and don't even think about it the rest of the day. And most women don't even work 12-hour shifts. (The rubber one--I can't speak for silicone models--also makes some squeaky noises as you fold it into shape, and I could see where the more self-conscious would find that embarrassing as well.) However, others note that you can easily empty it into the toilet and just wipe it out with toilet paper when out in public.

5) Effectiveness. Since I've learned to use the Keeper effectively, I haven't experienced the leakage that is pretty common with all kinds of tampons. Because it's held in place by suction instead of by the vaginal walls, you don't have leakage around the cup. I've heard it's possible with a very full cup, but I've been surprised that even after 12 hours, the cup is rarely more than 1/4 full for me.

Possible Drawbacks

1) Requires comfort and familiarity with your body. There's definitely more visual and tactile up-closeness with your body when you use a menstrual cup. I view this as a good thing. I think it would be especially helpful if young girls could get comfortable using them--it would help eradicate the view of their "lady business" as something dirty and mysterious, and also serve as a visual indicator of how much blood one really loses during a given cycle. (Less than I thought!)

2) Learning curve. It has one. But then, you have this with tampons too. I remember an entire period where I walked around bowlegged because I didn't realize that the applicator had to be fully inserted before the tampon was deployed...I thought you just positioned it nearby and sort of launched the tampon. Needless to say, it didn't launch very far, and was incredibly uncomfortable. I've also talked to girls who knew to insert, but didn't realize that one then REMOVED the applicator. OUCH! The Keeper cup takes a little time to realize how to insert and remove comfortably, but time spent getting to know your own body is a good investment, in my opinion.

3) Convenience/neatness? Once again, depending on individual circumstances and squeamishness, this can go both ways.

4) Need especially good hygiene. If you're not careful about washing your hands BEFORE you go to the bathroom, the fiddling necessary to first figure out how to comfortably use the Keeper cup could place you at risk for a UTI, just from normal skin bacteria.

If you're ready to get on the bandwagon, you can get one here! If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment.

As a side note, I use the regular rubber Keeper, but there are several silicone menstrual cups available as well. The Keeper Mooncup, Mooncup UK, Lunette, and DivaCup are a few; you can also find side-by-side reviews and comparisons of all types. Most come in two sizes, one for women who have given birth and one for those who haven't. (I found it especially interesting that the wording on the Keeper site recently changed to say "women who have given birth" vs "those who have not given birth OR have had C-section.")

Personally, I chose the Keeper because I thought the rubber looked and felt like more of a natural product than silicone, but I know many people are very happy with the silicone products. I also liked that the Keeper had a 3-month return policy, no questions asked (well, okay, one question: did you trim? Most people trim the stem on the Keeper for comfort, and you can NOT return it if you've trimmed more than half the stem. Don't ask me why. You can't use the the stem for removal--like a string on a tampon--because of the SUCTION!--so there's no reason they should require the stem to be left intact). In case you're not as pleased with yours as I am with mine, the return policy is something that's worth investigating before making the investment.

Companies Worth Doing Business With

I made another of my infamous phone calls this morning, this time because our Brita faucet filter has started spraying water all over the place when we use it. My view was that it was an investment we'd hoped would last longer than a year (we bought it last summer), and I was hoping the company would agree and repair or replace it.

To be prepared, I looked up their warranty policy on their website; it stated that products were guaranteed for a year and that if a product needed service after that, one should contact their customer service line. I honestly can't remember exactly when we bought our Brita, and while we saved our packaging and receipt at the time, it was then the victim of an unfortunate water leak under the sink at some point. I know we bought it shortly after moving to DC, because the water quality there was terrible, but that places us pretty squarely at the one-year mark; whether it's been a little more or a little less, I don't remember. I was hoping that, at the least, they'd let me mail it back in and get it repaired.

They did no such thing. Instead, the customer service agent on the phone apologized profusely for the problem, obtained my address and told me that a brand new unit was on its way, free of charge. He also mentioned that hot water damages the filtration system and that if one is going to be using hot water, the tab needs to be turned back to "regular" instead of "filtered" (which I didn't know) and that it's possibly best when using large quantities of hot tap water (like, oh, say, washing your dishes by hand after every meal) that the filter be taken off. Oh. So basically, it's very possible that we trashed it ourselves, albeit unwittingly, but he didn't point fingers or even ask for a date of purchase or receipt. He just sent a new one. (By taking a pledge to reduce bottled water usage, something I care about deeply anyway, I was also able to print a $1 off coupon for a new pack of filters from their website.)

Frugality is a neverending journey, and I think something most people in our situation come up against at some point is figuring out when cheap doesn't equal bargain. A couple of interesting posts on that topic have come up at Get Rich Slowly recently. One is about whether it's worth a few dollars to raise an issue when businesses don't want to keep their word, and one is about the abysmal customer service and return policies at Target.

The latter rings especially true for us as we recently realized that, due to a bad used-book habit we've developed (or both had to start with), we were outgrowing our current bookshelves. Because we spend a pretty minimal amount on books and try to only buy those that we see ourselves utilizing frequently, we felt it was okay to sanction our burgeoning library by getting a new bookshelf. We would have loved to get a good used one, but there don't tend to be many at thrift stores and a new one didn't have to cost us that much anyway. So we went to Target, because it was close and cheap, and picked out a $30, 6-ft bookshelf that Matt assembled at home. Even upon opening the box, we were somewhat struck by the cheapness of the composition and design, and some pretty visually apparent flaws. It also didn't feel like the sturdiest bookshelf in town. Did any of this surprise us? Not really. Did it disappoint us? Absolutely. But we knew from personal experience, as most people do, how incredibly resistant Target is to returns of any kind, and so we resigned ourselves and Matt put it together.

On the one hand, we're delighted to have such an increased capacity for books and we think we dolled it up nicely. We love to read and it's fun to put books to decorative use as well; few things are a more personal form of adornment, except for photographs.
However, in hindsight, we wished we'd either spent a weekend crafting a basic one ourselves, or gone somewhere that treats their customers with a little more respect. One option? Bed Bath and Beyond, which will pretty much take back anything at anytime. One cashier told me, "You could pretty much just buy a new set of sheets every year, bring back the old ones you'd been sleeping on, and we'd exchange them for you." And despite this--or, I would argue, because of it and the goodwill and positive word of mouth it generates-- the company seems to be thriving, no less than the stingier Target.

The moral of the story is that we're still learning to vote with our dollars. And sometimes you don't know what kind of a backbone a company has until you've dealt with them. But you can certainly take note for next time, and spend your dollars accordingly.