Bartering for goods and services and learning how to be self-sustaining

I've done it...I've gotten my hubby to jump on the money-saving train! And boy, let me tell you...he dove in head first and made a major savings trade right off the bat! More about that shortly...

If there is anyone reading this who hasn't been following the news as of late, you will soon start to hear that the economy has taken a turn for the worse. Saving money is more important than ever, as is learning how to be self-sustaining in the event of sudden panic. I used to laugh at my step-mom for wanting to set up food and supply stores in their home as well as coming up with an emergency plan in the event that "all hell breaks loose". With the market crashing all around us, I'm not laughing so hard any more.

Networking with other people with a variety of things or talents to barter with can get you so much amazing stuff for so little. Earlier, I talked about my husband diving in head first to the bartering. He has been wanting to take martial arts lessons for some time, but we couldn't afford the $150.00 per month. Because he works as a systems administrator, and has extensive knowledge of web developing, he came up with a plan to approach the martial arts studio to discuss his building them a tournament website in exchange for lessons. They were open to negotiate, so he went ahead and built an amazing website for them. They were very pleased with his work, and now for as long as he continues to maintain the website, he can take lessons for no charge in exchange. Right there is $150/month in savings.

I've been working hard this summer at making as much of our own food as possible (breads, preserves, freezing fruits and veggies, meals, etc). I've also been working on bartering with other folks in exchange for goods/services. I recently spoke with a woman who has extra produce from her garden that she is bartering up. I offered to make her some homemade tomato sauce in exchange for her produce. I'm waiting to hear back to see how much she has left. I also posted that I am a chef/baker by trade and willing to barter up some goods for the holidays in exchange for other goods/services.

Chances are, you can offer up some type of service be it sewing, cleaning, cooking, baking, baby-sitting, pet-sitting, or more that other people can use. In exchange, people would be willing to barter something they have, or just be willing to pay a small amount of cash in exchange. I've been complaining about wanting my house cleaned before the baby comes, and some friends of mine have offered to help in exchange for some goodies. If I didn't feel horrible about making my friends come scrub my floors, I'd totally take them up on it, but you get the idea.

Helpful hint for the day: As far as the economic crisis...start taking some time, if you haven't all ready, to start learning on how to depend on yourself in the event of an emergency. start by making some basic bread dough and throwing it in the freezer. When cooking, freeze your leftovers and mark them for use on a later date. Learn some different ways to preserve fresh produce. Come up with an "in case of emergency" plan in the event of a panic. It sounds completely ridiculous sometimes when I think about it, but it never hurts to have something in place.

Check this out!: http://lmgtfy.com/?q=local+bartering+sites Check this out to help you get started on looking for local bartering websites.

Store Brand vs. Name Brand-how do they really compare?

Always looking for the next big way to save money, I decided to track the difference between store brand vs. name brand items. I have always been a big proponent of using store brands-after all, when it comes down to it, the ingredients are almost identical. However, I will say that there are some items that I do refuse to purchase the generic of, and that's ok! I can justify spending a little more on items I know are better quality by buying as many store brand items as possible. I made a grocery list and then wrote down both the cost of the generic item and the name-brand item. I was amazed at the difference in costs of some of these items. See below:

ITEM	STORE BRAND PRICE	NAME BRAND PRICE	PRICE WITH COUPON
1 GALLON WATER	$0.99	NONE
1 GALLON ICE CREAM	$5.49	$6.99
ROASTING CHICKEN	$3.99	$6.99
18 EGGS	$2.24	NONE
ALL-PURPOSE FLOUR (5 LBS.)	$1.64	$2.24
SHALLOT (1)	$0.58	$2.99 (PER BAG OF 3)
FROZEN VEGGIES (1 BAG)	$0.99 CENTS	$1.89
SMOKED SAUSAGE (1 PKG.)	$2.39	$2.54	$1.54
CREAMED CORN (1 CAN)	$0.69	$0.92
REGULAR CORN (1 CAN)	$0.69	$0.92
CORN MUFFIN MIX (1 BOX)	NONE	$0.47
GREEN PEPPER (1)	$0.89 EACH	ORGANIC $1.99 EACH
ZUCCHINI (1)	$1.99 EACH	ORGANIC $1.79 EACH
BREAKFAST SAUSAGE (1 PKG)	$1.19	$1.89
ROTEL (1 CAN)	$0.69	$1.02
VEGETABLE BEEF SOUP (1 CAN)	$1.09	$1.32
TOMATO SOUP (1 CAN)	$0.57	$0.79
WORCESTERSHIRE SAUCE	$0.99	$1.99
GARLIC POWDER	$1.89	$2.79
TOTAL:	$28.99	$38.21
TOTAL SAVED:	$14.40

As you can see, some name brand items were actually cheaper than the generic brand, but you can see the savings added up. If you take the amount saved and multiply it by 4 (the number of trips I make a month to the store), that adds up to almost $60 in savings. Factor in coupons and you can save even more! Just be sure to do your homework when in the store and check the prices.

Another way to save is to become part of a store's loyalty program. Last month on a trip to target, the clerk that was checking out my purchase told me of a new Target "Debit" card. It's not a regular credit card, but a card that links directly to your bank account. It's free to sign up and there are no fees, and it applies a 5% discount to your purchase any time you shop at Target. I did this, and now just using the Target card alone I save about $5 a shopping trip. You can also sign your children's school up to receive 1% of the amount of your purchase. They also send me regular coupons in the mail. On my last trip between the card and two coupons, I saved almost $30. It truly does add up! Many stores are starting to offer similar programs, so don't be afraid to ask the next time you go shopping.

Shutting down the satellite (Cue the horror music!)

Taking a look at our monthly expenses, I decided we needed to figure out a way to cut back somehow on our bills. Our satellite, cell phone, gym, and car insurance expenses were out of control. Those four bills alone totalled almost 15% of our monthly income. We had to find a way to cut back or we just weren't going to make it, because somehow, we also need to find the money for gas and to eat.

I started with the DirectTV. This bill was costing us over $100 per month. Was this something that was truly necessary in our household? I've been feeling for a long time that my family has been watching too much TV. As ashamed as I am to admit it, I will say that I turned to it as a sitter sometimes when I needed my kids to sit still in one spot for a minute so I could clean or take a sanity break. During the winter we used it a lot because there just isn't much to do in the winter. This was a really tough call for me. A lot of the shows I like to watch are harder to find on the net. We looked at the pros and cons, and decided that the best thing to do would be to shut it off.

It was not nearly as bad as I thought it would be. Through the glorious Internet, I was able to find such websites such as HULU, Clicker, and also the channel websites where I can find my shows for free. I may not be able to watch them right away when they're aired, but I can still catch them, and it doesn't cost me any extra. Something you can also do is sign up for Netflix. $7.99 a month for unlimited streaming on your devices or PC. They always add new TV shows, movies, etc. I've noticed now that the TV is not on during the day, my kids are getting better at being creative and finding things to do. Now that the weather is nicer, we can get out and do more as well. So far it's been a positive experience.

Cell phones: This is tough because we switched last year to the smart phones. because my husband is a systems administrator, and his phone is also considered a pager and he does do some work from his phone, we had to take the unlimited data plan. However, looking back through our plan, I did notice some extras that had been added on at some point that were not necessary, and took them off. These were things like visual voicemail, vcast music, various insurance plans, etc. Also, because they do so much work from their phones, my husband was able to talk his company into paying part of our cell phone bill every month. Now every month they pay $20 towards our cell bill.

Gym memberships: How many of you have a gym membership and don't use it? The answer? A good majority of us. We sign up for that membership telling ourselves that we are going to actually follow through this time, and go 3-4 nights a week. Oh, we do that...for a little while. Pretty soon we get busy and tell ourselves that "oh, I'll go this weekend". Before you realize it, it's been months since you last went, yet you're spending anywhere from $50-100 a month for something you don't even use. While we had a good rate for a family membership, we quit using it after a while. This was $58 per month going out the door, so we decided to shut it down. We made a promise to become more active outdoors with our children, and so far so good. My hubby goes for walks and bike rides, the kids and I go to the park and walk around the lake, we walk the zoo, hike the nature trails. etc. It's a win-win situation.

Car insurance: Have you had any speeding tickets or moving violations in the past several years? Been in any accidents? Are you a student getting good grades, or a Soldier or Veteran that is serving or has honorably served? If so, you may be entitled to a discount through your car insurance company. I know lately that one company has a monitor you can install into your car to monitor your safe driving habits. Some companies offer multiple policy discounts. Others offer Military discounts. Vanishing deductibles. Accident forgiveness. You see where I'm going with this. Call your insurance company and find out whether you qualify for any discounts. Also, shop around to make sure you're getting the best rates. You'll be surprised that by checking these out every once in a while you may find the same thing, only cheaper.

Hint for the day: Make a list of the bills you pay each month, and then look at your actual bill. Check them periodically to see if you're paying too much, or paying for extras you don't need, etc. Make a list of pros and cons to see if these are things that you absolutely need, or can possibly live without. After looking at these four bills mentioned above, cutting off and cutting back and checking for discounts, we are saving $230 a month.

Check this out!: http://billeater.com/ A great website that shows many different ways to save on household and utility bills.

Baking bread to break even

I went to the store the other day, looking for a loaf of bread. I just happened to take a look at the shelf where the wonder bread is, and saw that for a loaf of plain white bread, it was $2.99. Are you serious??? Is this wheat harvested out of the White House garden or something? Good grief.

Before I went to pick up my daughter from school, I went to the store and bought flour and a jar of yeast. I splurged and bought a 5lb. bag of bread flour for $2.99. All purpose flour was $1.99, and whole wheat flour was $3.99. The jar of yeast was $3.99. I came home and did the calculations of how much it would cost to make a loaf of bread at home based on my recipe, and this is what I came up with:

15 cents per cup of flour (based on the bread flour price)

25 cents per tablespoon of yeast

16 cents per 1/4 cup of oil

07 cents per 1/3 cup of sugar

The recipe calls for the following:

6 cups flour

1.5 T yeast

1/4 cup oil

2/3 cup sugar

2 cups warm water

1 1/2 t salt

If you do the calculations based on the recipe (minus the salt and water, as the cost is trivial), you should come up with $1.57 per batch. This batch makes two loaves, so you're paying $0.79 per loaf of fresh, unprocessed bread. No chemical or preservative added bread. instead of $2.99 for a loaf of bread that is laden full of stuff we can't even pronounce. This should be a no-brainer, why didn't I do this before?!?! In one word: Convenience.

Instead of taking an hour or so out of my day to make up several dough loaves to freeze, I just grabbed whatever was on the shelf while at the store. Bread really doesn't take much time to make, especially when you have the recipe down pat, and can throw it all together quickly. Then just roll it into loaves, wrap in plastic wrap before giving it a chance to rise, then throw it in the freezer. When you need more bread, just pull out, thaw and let rise, and bake. The only difference is, you'll need to store it in the refrigerator, because there are no preservatives to keep it soft and from spoiling quickly. I think that's worth the sacrifice, don't you?

So, to wrap this up: In order to calculate the cost of making vs. buying-

*Take the price you paid for your ingredients and divide it by the number of cups, T, t, ounces, etc. in each item (i.e. 20 cups of flour in a 5 lb. bag, 16 T yeast in a jar, and so on).

*Take that number and multiply it by the amount your recipe calls for (.15 cents per cup flour multiplied by 6 cups flour).

*Take these numbers and add them together, then divide by the number of loaves each recipe makes, and you have your price per loaf.

Sounds much more complicated than it really is. Happy baking!

HINT FOR THE DAY: Add moisture while baking bread to ensure your bread doesn't dry out. The level of moisture in the oven is an important factor in achieving proper results. Moisture, in the form of steam, allows the bread to form a thin, golden crust while allowing the interior to remain soft and moist. The way I do this is to add a metal pan to the lowest rack of the oven while it's preheating. 2-3 minutes before I put the bread in to bake, add about a cup of water into the hot pan. This will immediately generate steam. Be careful not to let your skin be scalded by the steam. Then place the loaves in to bake.

CHECK THIS OUT!: I live by the all recipes website. Check this link out for thousands of bread recipes: http://allrecipes.com//Recipes/bread/Main.aspx

Two chickens, $10.00

I apologize for the late start on getting some hints and tips out to you. I woke up yesterday morning, and my laptop decided to take a dive on me; today, our second computer quit all of a sudden. A quick shout out to my dad for letting me borrow a laptop until the IT department (a.k.a. my husband) gets home tomorrow evening.

So, let's talk chicken. Chicken is inexpensive, high in lean protein, and when prepared the right way, juicy and very flavorful, even the dark meat. I recently found out that that chicken legs are just a hair better for you than plain old chicken breasts (as long as you take the skin off). I was thrilled to hear this, as I find breast meat to be much too dry, where as dark meat is much more moist and tastes much better.

I went to the store the other day and bought two roasting chickens for $10. I took them home, cleaned out the neck and innards, brushed them very lightly with peanut oil (I prefer the taste of peanut oil with chicken, but you can use any oil), and seasoned them with S&P, garlic and onion powder. By bringing them home to roast them myself, I saved $4, as rotisserie chickens were being sold for $6.99 a piece. Sure, that doesn't sound like much, but it all adds up in the end. The preparation only took about 10 minutes. They came out 2.5 hours later looking like something out of a Norman Rockwell painting and smelling divine.

Out of these two chickens I was able to make the following:

*Roasted chicken and vegetables
*Chicken salad
*Thai noodles with chicken
*Chicken nachos
*Green salad with roasted chicken breast

After I had picked the bones clean, I took each carcass, including the skin, and some left over vegetable peelings, and threw them each into a separate pot and filled with cold water. I seasoned it with just some salt and a very light touch of white pepper (I used white because I didn't want little black flecks in my clear chicken broth), and brought the bones to a boil then turned it down to a low simmer for about 4 hours (occasionally skimming the foam off the top of the liquid). After simmering, I strained the broth and let it cool. At this point, I filled quart-sized bags with the cooled liquid, laid flat on a baking sheet and put them in the freezer. Make sure the bags are pre-labeled with the date so you know when the broth was made. I was able to make several quarts of broth from these two chickens as well. As you may be aware, a quart of broth at the store sells anywhere from $2.99-$3.99.

As you can see, nothing went to waste. Out of $10 worth of meat, I was able to get 5 meals and several quarts of broth. Keep your eye out for deals in the meat department. A lot of the time you can find chickens that are close to their "sell by" date that are being sold for less than $1.00 a pound. Buy them out, and throw them into your freezer. Or, cook the meat up right away, chop it up, and freeze it. Freeze the carcasses in gallon bags until you have time to render them into broth.

I'm sorry I don't have any pictures to share with you; if I am able to recover my laptop, I can post some later.

HINT FOR THE DAY: Save all your vegetable peelings and odds and ends that don't get used (except potatoes, as they are starchy, and tend to thicken; grind those up and thrown them in your gardens or flower beds). Throw them into the freezer in gallon-sized bags with the air squeezed out. When you have a bit of free time, turn them into a wonderful vegetable broth! Toss them in a pan with a light touch of olive oil and garlic, salt, and white pepper (remember, a little WP goes a long way). After lightly braising them to bring out their flavors, toss them in a pot with cold water. Again, bring to a boil then simmer for a few hours. Skim any foam, then strain, cool, and freeze to use for a later date.

CHECK THIS OUT!: http://www.growinca.org for tips on local, sustainable, and inexpensive ways to save on produce, meat, and dairy, while supporting local farmers.

Inaugural post

When I went to the gas station last week, I about had a heart attack when I saw that, for 19 gallons of gas, I just put $70 into my vehicle. I was stunned...and immediately started wondering how I was going to be able to afford to keep driving. And on top of that, because unfortunately driving is a necessary evil in our family, how was I going to be able to afford to pay for gas and put food on the table?

I casually mentioned how unbelievable it was, and how over the past few days I had sat down to take a look at our household expenses to see where we could cut out unnecessary spending. I was surprised to see how many responses I received on this subject; people saying the same thing.

Unless you've been living under a rock, you'll know that our economy is in the pots. Most of the country is having to make the same sacrifices due to greedy spending and squabbling fat cats on Capitol Hill. They're more interested in pushing their interests and lining their pockets than seeing how our country is suffering, and doing anything about it.

I chose the name of this blog, "Let them eat cake", because it seems to personify the state that this country is in. It is said (though not proven) that Queen Marie Antoinette said this in response to being told that peasants were rioting because they had no bread and were starving. Its overtones feel very appropriate for the time being.

So this being said, I have started this blog as a way to share how I am trimming my household budget, how to live more frugally, and to provide tips, hints, recipes, and suggestions as to how you can do the same. I look forward to doing this, and hopefully by doing so, helping others as well.