Sunday, August 15, 2010
Starting a pantry using only $10.00 a week.
I have seen on other blogs where bloggers set up challenges to help others start their pantries. I think this is a very good idea, so im going to challenge you to start your pantry using only $10.00 a week. Of course you can use more if you like. Every friday i will share with you what i have gotten to add to my pantry for only $10.00. This does not have to be expensive and its not, when going grocery shopping or shopping for household supplies buy a few extra and put them in your pantry. Over time you will have a supply of goods to help you through the tough times, and remember keep track of what you buy and use what you buy. Get things that you and your family need.
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Canning Dry foods
Im getting more into food storage and getting back to basics on simple living. One thing i am learning is to can food for long term storage. In this segment i will share with you how i canned some of my dry foods for storage. A lady at work has been guiding me on how to do this, there is no one way to can food. This is how im doing it.
Jars- I am using the ball brand jars, they come in pints, quarts and gallon jars. You can find them at kmart, walmart ect at a price range of about $9 or $10 for a dozen jars.
After you get your jars make sure to wash them to sanitize and let them dry completely. The jar tops have 2 pieces, the lid that creates the vacuum seal and the metal ring to keep the lid in place.
Now you will fill your jars with your dry foods such as beans, pasta, rice, grain ect. Label your jars with what is in it and the manufacture expiration date. Placing your dry food in jars keeps pantry bugs out and also keeps your food fresher longer. These bugs look like little nats or red flies, also larve or eggs can already be on some of these things you buy in the store, its a small percentage but with storing food its better to be safe than sorry. These jars help keep things out as well as in, some people store large amounts of food and all boxes can get infestation if you get bugs.
Next wipe the lid of your jars and make sure its clean to get a good seal, then place it on the mouth of the jar, screw on the metal ring tight. Now from there i was told that i do not have to do anything else with the dry foods, just put the jars back in the box it came in and store it. But if you want or need your food to keep longer read on.
To create a vaccum seal take a speckled pan or dutch oven and place the jars upside down in the pan and fill with enough water to cover the tops. If you put the tops on right, no water should get into the jars.
Let them boil for 30 minutes to an hour, keep a close eye on the jars to make sure they don't break. Doing this for the first time i was lucky but it can happen. After that take the jars out and set them upright on some towels to cool for a few hours. To know if you have a good seal press down on the top if it does not pop you have a seal, if it pops back up when you press on it, it is not sealed. If not sealed repeat the process. Check your jars every few weeks to make sure the seal keeps.
There are many different ways to can, you can google methods or have someone help you with it. My next challenge will be learning how to can wet food such as sauces, veggies ect. When you are done you can place your jars back in the box and place it on your pantry shelf. I hope this helps whoever reads this.
Jars- I am using the ball brand jars, they come in pints, quarts and gallon jars. You can find them at kmart, walmart ect at a price range of about $9 or $10 for a dozen jars.
After you get your jars make sure to wash them to sanitize and let them dry completely. The jar tops have 2 pieces, the lid that creates the vacuum seal and the metal ring to keep the lid in place.
Now you will fill your jars with your dry foods such as beans, pasta, rice, grain ect. Label your jars with what is in it and the manufacture expiration date. Placing your dry food in jars keeps pantry bugs out and also keeps your food fresher longer. These bugs look like little nats or red flies, also larve or eggs can already be on some of these things you buy in the store, its a small percentage but with storing food its better to be safe than sorry. These jars help keep things out as well as in, some people store large amounts of food and all boxes can get infestation if you get bugs.
Next wipe the lid of your jars and make sure its clean to get a good seal, then place it on the mouth of the jar, screw on the metal ring tight. Now from there i was told that i do not have to do anything else with the dry foods, just put the jars back in the box it came in and store it. But if you want or need your food to keep longer read on.
To create a vaccum seal take a speckled pan or dutch oven and place the jars upside down in the pan and fill with enough water to cover the tops. If you put the tops on right, no water should get into the jars.
Let them boil for 30 minutes to an hour, keep a close eye on the jars to make sure they don't break. Doing this for the first time i was lucky but it can happen. After that take the jars out and set them upright on some towels to cool for a few hours. To know if you have a good seal press down on the top if it does not pop you have a seal, if it pops back up when you press on it, it is not sealed. If not sealed repeat the process. Check your jars every few weeks to make sure the seal keeps.
There are many different ways to can, you can google methods or have someone help you with it. My next challenge will be learning how to can wet food such as sauces, veggies ect. When you are done you can place your jars back in the box and place it on your pantry shelf. I hope this helps whoever reads this.
The Dollar Store Revelation
I don't know what took me so long to realize i was being deceived, its no ones fault but my own. Im getting more serious about saving money and that means branching out to different stores that i have stopped shopping at. At the dollar tree, everything in the store is a dollar and i thought i hit the lotto. Well searching the ads every week tell me different, im actually paying more at the dollar tree for some products that are on sale in store and with coupons. Shopping at the dollar tree is not saving me as much money as i thought. A few products i will save money on but not alot. I have learned to be patient with the sales unless its something that we really need. Doing my research instead of just sticking with the cheaper stores has really saved me money. Aldis is another deception, they are not as cheap as i thought. So if you really want to save money do your research on all the stores in your area to make sure you are getting the best prices. To give you an example shopping at aldis and the dollars stores i spend about $50 a week for my family of 3. Now i have done our grocery list for this week from the store ads and our total will come out to about $23 dollars. This does not include meat because we buy bundles every few months. So i have cut the bill more than half checking all the store sales. Are you really getting a good deal at the cheaper stores?
Where the hell is our money going (rant) Pt.2 Social Security
Continuing on with my rant i would like to discuss social security.
Social security- Now we are paying into social security, this money comes to us when we retire or if we become disabled. They go by what you have paid in up to the time you stop working. For retirement im not 100% sure but i think the age is 65. For most of us by the time we retire there may not even be social security. Think about it you have paid into something most of your life and when its time for you to get it, its not there. At this point your probably like well i have my 401k and my pension. 401k will only take you so far, you have to live on this for the rest of your life, in the past 2 years alot of people have lost more than half of their 401k due to the economy. Stocks went down and so did your 401k. So now your like ok i have my pension, i don't know if its for every company but when you come to the age where you are eligible for social security they cut a percentage from your pension. I cannot quote a percentage because every company is different. My father just started getting his ss in january, the company he worked for cut half of his pension, so he is making less money than he did before his ss started. Now ain't that about a itch.
In the next few years the baby boomers will become eligible for social security and there may not be enough money to pay out to everyone. Do you really think there will be enough money to pay our ss benefits in 20 or 30 years? I hope so but i won't be surprised if there isn't. Where is all of our money going? To wall street, to bankers, to take care of able bodied people who never worked a day in their life, to stimulus packages you will never see a dime of, to programs you will never be able to use or qualify for. Damn
Social security- Now we are paying into social security, this money comes to us when we retire or if we become disabled. They go by what you have paid in up to the time you stop working. For retirement im not 100% sure but i think the age is 65. For most of us by the time we retire there may not even be social security. Think about it you have paid into something most of your life and when its time for you to get it, its not there. At this point your probably like well i have my 401k and my pension. 401k will only take you so far, you have to live on this for the rest of your life, in the past 2 years alot of people have lost more than half of their 401k due to the economy. Stocks went down and so did your 401k. So now your like ok i have my pension, i don't know if its for every company but when you come to the age where you are eligible for social security they cut a percentage from your pension. I cannot quote a percentage because every company is different. My father just started getting his ss in january, the company he worked for cut half of his pension, so he is making less money than he did before his ss started. Now ain't that about a itch.
In the next few years the baby boomers will become eligible for social security and there may not be enough money to pay out to everyone. Do you really think there will be enough money to pay our ss benefits in 20 or 30 years? I hope so but i won't be surprised if there isn't. Where is all of our money going? To wall street, to bankers, to take care of able bodied people who never worked a day in their life, to stimulus packages you will never see a dime of, to programs you will never be able to use or qualify for. Damn
Where the hell is our money going(rant) Pt. 1 Unemployment Insurance
Where in the hell is our money really going? Have you ever sat down and thought about it, if you have your probably getting pissed like me.
Unemployment insurance- I have so many questions on this, why do people work half of their lives and can only get 6 months worth of unemployment insurance? Where is the rest of that money going? Why does the government have to vote on extensions and designate how long you can get the money you paid in? Are you angry yet?
Why do they only pay in quarters and the rest of the money you put in for that year evaporates into thin air? Isn't the reason for unemployment insurance is to insure if you are unemployed that you will have some kind of income coming to you? What kind of ish is really going on. 15 years of working and paying into unemployment does not equal 6 months of benefits. I wonder who came up with this mess, they need to be shot ( i warned you it was a rant). Should we go back to the way it used to be, stashing money in our bed, backyard and shoe boxes?
But what can we really do about it, make sure that we don't have to depend on umemployment, hell what if it comes time for you to apply for your benefits and there is none? What would you do?
Pt.2 social security will be coming when i calm down. Am i tripping ? or do you feel me? Let me know what you think.
Unemployment insurance- I have so many questions on this, why do people work half of their lives and can only get 6 months worth of unemployment insurance? Where is the rest of that money going? Why does the government have to vote on extensions and designate how long you can get the money you paid in? Are you angry yet?
Why do they only pay in quarters and the rest of the money you put in for that year evaporates into thin air? Isn't the reason for unemployment insurance is to insure if you are unemployed that you will have some kind of income coming to you? What kind of ish is really going on. 15 years of working and paying into unemployment does not equal 6 months of benefits. I wonder who came up with this mess, they need to be shot ( i warned you it was a rant). Should we go back to the way it used to be, stashing money in our bed, backyard and shoe boxes?
But what can we really do about it, make sure that we don't have to depend on umemployment, hell what if it comes time for you to apply for your benefits and there is none? What would you do?
Pt.2 social security will be coming when i calm down. Am i tripping ? or do you feel me? Let me know what you think.
Consuming More Than You Need
Well i know im greedy especially when it comes to food. Does anyone really eat a serving size? Have you ever seen an actually serving size? If your like me its like who makes this ish up, that's it? Is that all im supposed to get? The serving size is located on the back or front of the package of food if anyone chooses to look. And there are also usda guidelines and yada yada. 4oz of protein, 6oz of veggies per meal, so on and so forth, eating according to how much you weigh. But who wants to go through all that, just eat until your full and your good. But is it really good for you? Do you really need all that? I did an experiment for a week of actually measuring out serving sizes and you know what i was ok, i wasn't hungry and i wasn't sluggish. I have a food scale that i used and it wasn't as bad as i thought it would be. Now fast food was harder to do this with, but we ate out 2x this week. Me and dh shared a regular size meal at mcdonalds and we were both satisfied. We also ordered 1 chinese meal with rice and all 3 of us shared it and was not hungry after. Usually when we eat out everyone has a meal to themselves. Its really something how we consume more than we need. Just food for thought.
Tips for Saving Money on School Supplies
Its almost that time of year again where our little ones and big ones are going back to school soon. Some if not most of us already have our lists for what they need. Here are a few money saving tips to help with school supply shopping.
Tip #1- Reuse school supplies from last year.
When school was over in may dd came home with all of her supplies from the beginning of the year and to my surprise, She didn't even use half of her things. She had brand new supplies not even touched, they just had her name on it. So before you buy anything look at the old school supplies to see if anything can be reused for this year. Folders, pencils, crayons, markers, school boxes, scissors ect. You may already have most of the things you need.
Tip #2- Compare prices
Compare prices of your local ads to get the most for your money. Right now walgreens has a good sale on school supplies. This is a place i would have never thought to look since i live in the dollar stores. Comparing prices and doing research will save you money.
Tip # 3- Shop early
Sometimes with our busy lives and schedules we wait until the last minute to shop for back to school. If finances allow it start getting the things you need early on sale. That saves from having to fight with large crowds and finding the things you need. How many times have you went to a store to find something and they were sold out, so you have to search store to store, wasting gas and time.
Tip# 4-Keep and eye on those clearance sales.
Last but not least to help you out next year shop the school supply clearance sales. This way you will always have at least something on hand you know you will need and use for next year.
Like always may this help whoever reads this.
La Colocha
Tip #1- Reuse school supplies from last year.
When school was over in may dd came home with all of her supplies from the beginning of the year and to my surprise, She didn't even use half of her things. She had brand new supplies not even touched, they just had her name on it. So before you buy anything look at the old school supplies to see if anything can be reused for this year. Folders, pencils, crayons, markers, school boxes, scissors ect. You may already have most of the things you need.
Tip #2- Compare prices
Compare prices of your local ads to get the most for your money. Right now walgreens has a good sale on school supplies. This is a place i would have never thought to look since i live in the dollar stores. Comparing prices and doing research will save you money.
Tip # 3- Shop early
Sometimes with our busy lives and schedules we wait until the last minute to shop for back to school. If finances allow it start getting the things you need early on sale. That saves from having to fight with large crowds and finding the things you need. How many times have you went to a store to find something and they were sold out, so you have to search store to store, wasting gas and time.
Tip# 4-Keep and eye on those clearance sales.
Last but not least to help you out next year shop the school supply clearance sales. This way you will always have at least something on hand you know you will need and use for next year.
Like always may this help whoever reads this.
La Colocha
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