Crazy Couponing is Not For Me

I have a love-hate relationship with coupons.  When we first started working our budget, I got all excited about them and immediately began clipping, collecting, sorting, and organizing.  It didn't take me long to realize the dark, dirty truth about coupons.  Well, maybe not that dramatic but I did discover a few things which turned me off from being a truly Crazy Coupon-er.

When using coupons, don't:

 - buy more than necessary.

There are two ways that a coupon can cause a shopping cart to fill too quickly.  The first is that many coupons require one to purchase 2 or 3 of a given item in order to get a discount.  While some may see buying four gallons of ice cream to save a dollar as "stocking up", I see it as a waste.  Certainly, some items may be "stocked" at home (anything without an expiration date), but this mentality easily becomes a justification for buying too many at once.

The second way is by buying tag-along items which are not on sale.  For example, using a coupon for hot dog buns and then getting hot dogs as well.  This is especially true for "Free" coupons which require the purchase of another item.  Getting a free 2-liter of Coke is nice, but not when you must buy ten dollars worth of cookies and chips to get it.

- buy unnecessary items.

I'm all for saving a dollar, but buying an item simply because a coupon sits before you is not a good strategy for saving money.  I have taking to not clipping coupons for items that we generally do not buy to eliminate the temptation to "save money" on an item which will spend eternity in a cupboard.

- buy more unhealthy foods.

For the most part, whole and unprocessed foods do not have coupons.  The reason is simple: coupons are produced by the large companies which produce processed foods, not by farmers.  Coupons are designed to be used at large-scale, box-store grocery chains, not the farmers market.  This can lead one to spend a greater portion of the grocery budget on "cheaper" (i.e. discounted) foods, instead of those that are more nourishing and, simply, better. 

I tend not to clip coupons for foods I don't want to end up buying.  In our case, this includes microwave foods, anything with an unsightly amount of packaging, most things containing high fructose corn syrup, and anything with an ingredient list that's more than an inch long.  We aren't exclusive and we aren't paranoid (you will find Cheez-its in our pantry and Pepsi Throwback in our fridge), but I also don't want our diet to drift too much into that world.

- buy more expensive brand names.

As I mentioned above, coupons are put out by the large multi-national corporations which produce so much of our daily needs and everyone of those needs has a name, and a brand.  With the notable exception of Store coupons, generic brands do not generate coupons and, more often than not, are not on Sale.  Even with a coupon, brands are often still more expensive than generics; be sure to check.  This marketing at it's finest - companies know that you will pay more for their name brand simply because you have a coupon in hand and/or there's a little yellow Sale tag, even though the generic sitting right there is still $2 less, and has the exact same ingredients!

It is possible to go off the conspiracy theory deep end when discussing coupons and the companies behind them, but I try not to go that far.  I do use coupons.  A lot.  I have an accordion organizer that I carry around with me.  I am that lady standing in the middle of the aisle doing long division on the newspaper insert trying to figure out which Raisin Bran is cheaper per ounce.  I am every cashier's worst nightmare.  But I fall into these traps to some extent every time I shop.


In summary, when used wisely and carefully, coupons can save loads of money.  The key is to make your own list, don't let the circulars and their discounts write it for you.  Use coupons only on items you already buy in manageable quantities when you actually need them, and don't go crazy.

Looking back on local eating: part 1

The plan had been to blog our way through the month of September talking about becoming locavores. As it turned out, September is a really hard month to blog through when you're working and parenting full-time, struggling to pay your bills, and making plans for the future. Add to that the fun we had experimenting with being local consumers, and you've got a month of adventure and zero free time with which to blog about a runny nose. This, now, is our attempt to blog about our trials and triumphs in being locavores for a month, and the way that it has changed our lives forever.

It turns out that a 250 mile radius from our little village covers a good portion of New York, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, and a tiny sliver of Canada and Pennsylvania. I wouldn't say we struggled to remain local, though sometimes we forgot and splurged on something silly like bananas (the only thing our one year old would eat for breakfast for a while). Still, I would say that our menu was able to be incredibly varied including locally raised beef and turkey, produce, honey and maple syrup, and a delicious box of wine that lasted us for the entire month! Supplementing what we already do with new experiences, made this a big success; and it has forever changed the way we eat and think about food.

Things we already do:

• make our own yogurt
• compost our kitchen scraps
• members of our local co-op
• shop road side garden stands and farmers' market(s)
• buy locally raised beef and other meats
• shop local bakeries

Things we added to our regular food routine:

• reading books and articles about food production
• watching films about food business
• processing apples and other produce to freeze and use later
• joined One Million Against Monsanto
• joined a winter CSA (saving for a summer CSA)
• Grew our own pumpkin (accidentally..it just grew in our compost pile)
• wrote letters to our Senators and Representatives re food issues
• enjoyed a box of local wine for the entire month

Paper Towels are Groceries Too

Being on a tight budget is hard.  Really hard.  It's stressful to squeeze every dollar till it screams, and pinch every penny and cut every coupon.  It takes work to stay on top of all the envelopes and keep in mind that this $10 is to buy bread, eggs and milk when I suddenly realize that we're out of butter too and, wouldn't it be nice to have some cream cheese on hand, since it's on sale and I have a coupon.

Since most of the household buying decisions are made by me as Mom, I find myself under increasing pressure to make do with as little as possible so that money can be freed up to go towards our debt.  I deal with this by lumping a lot of things under the heading of "groceries".

Our budget form has many different categories, but I roll everything for the household, from Toiletries to Cleaning Supplies, into Groceries (mostly because we buy so many things at the same store, whether it be Walmart, Dollar General or IGA, and I don't want to stand in line at the check-out pulling $5 from one envelope and $20 from another while also balancing coupons and toddlers).

Ergo, the Grocery envelope is my All-purpose envelope.  Flour, coffee and dish detergent from the co-op - Grocery.  McDonalds coffee - Grocery.  Diapers - Grocery.  Infant tylenol and cough drops - Grocery.  Huge shopping trip to Price Chopper for 6 months worth of bread and toilet paper - you guessed it, Grocery.

All of this picking at the Grocery category throughout the month often ends up with me having two things: 1) an empty envelope when we're out of something important (like milk) and 2) incredible amounts of guilt for that $1 coffee or for paying $1.29 a pound for the Organic rolled oats or any number of other decisions made throughout the month that were justifiable at the time.

What to do?  I'm attempting to be easier on myself.  I know that, while not beneficial, going over budget by a gallon of milk or a roll of toilet paper is not going to kill anything.  Also, I, frequently, remind myself that there are some things in life which are more important than keeping the budget balanced (like my sanity, for one, and feeding my children, for another).  In future months this may lead to increasing of our grocery budget (gasp!) to prevent the completely-empty-envelope-and-refrigerator phenomenon.

Every month, we find ourselves walking the line between appropriate dollar stretching and being overly optimistic about how little it takes to adequately feed and clothe ourselves.  Just to make things more exciting, every month that line seems to be in a different place.

(Btw, our budget meetings don't actually look like that cartoon.  But it did make me laugh, so I thought I'd share.)

Locavore Challenge Days 3-7

This week has been crazy! Caleb started working at Augustine Classical Academy for the upcoming school year (first day was yesterday) Emily went to the Farmer's Market here in town for the first time this fall with our WIC checks, and we sent in a check to start our winter CSA! This may be a post full of exclamation points as I try to unpack all of the fun we've been having during this year's Locavore Challenge.

As you know we started with a day full of locally (within 250 mile) sourced foods. We also spent time on Day 2 going to roadside stands picking up squash, garlic, and whatever else local gardeners/farmers were selling out of their trolleys (it's an upstate NY thing, but I hope other places do this, too). Emily came back from the Farmer's Market with a huge haul of fresh vegetables and herbs. Take a look at the amazing produce she came home with: squash, herbs, carrots, celery, bell peppers, and green tomatoes.

While Caleb was at work on Tuesday, Ana (the 2 year old) and Emily used the Pretend Soup cookbook to make Green Spaghetti (pasta with pesto) for lunch.

 Caleb cooked up pasta sauce from our neighbor's garden, and Emily added fresh parsley and oregano and squash tonight for our delicious dinner

This is our whirlwind tour of the last week of our locavore challenge. Coming up we'll be reviewing Michael Pollan's In Defense of Food!

Eating from our neighbors' gardens

I love this time of year.  Gardens everywhere are exploding with squash and tomatoes, so much so that even the most avid canners and preservers have trouble keeping up.  Suddenly, little road side stands are everywhere.  "Squash and Zucchini $1"  "Homegrown Garlic"  "Free Tomatoes"
Have extra produce?  I am ever so happy to help you out.

Just this past week we: relieved our local co-op of an abundance of turning pattypan and baby crookneck squash, picked tomatoes from a friend's garden while they were out of town (with permission, of course); bought three 3 lb yellow squash at a roadside, drop-your-money-in-the-bucket stand; and got some "homegrown garlic" from a farm shed.

I have been making many bakes, casseroles and sauces with all of this goodness.  I even made zucchini brownies.  Some of it we've eaten already, but most went into the freezer.  I'm well aware that the school year starts on Tuesday and busy weeknights with no time to cook will fast be upon us.  Best to be prepared and keep Chinese and McDonald's at bay.

How to Budget: Step 3

At long last, Step 3 of our 5.  Believe me, it is much easier to do these steps than to write about them.  Probably even easier to do them than to read about them. 

1. Determine income and pay periods for the month
2. Name your Income
3. Make it balance
4. Allocate your expenses for each week
5. Prioritize Irregular Income

Ah, math.  If you don't already have a nice sharp pencil and good eraser handy, grab one.  You'll need it.  (A blackboard would work too, of course.)  A calculator might be helpful too, if your arithmetic is rusty.  I promise that there will be no algebra or calculus in this step.  All we need to do is add up all the expenses and make it equal the total income.

You'll also need a plan.  We use Dave Ramsey's Monthly Cash Flow Plan (find it here), so I'll be walking you through it.  If you don't want to fill it out, you can always use a legal pad.

I find it helpful to start at the end.  On the third page of the Cash Flow Plan (CFP, from now on) at the very bottom is a line in bold that reads "Total Monthly Income".  You should have figured this out in Step 1, so go ahead and fill it in.  Below that line is the word ZERO.  This is the goal.  In the budget world, balance equals Zero.

Now, back to the beginning.  Pull out the list of expenses that you made in Step 2.  Draw a line at where your income ended.  On our example sheet below (which is a simplification of our actual budget), this line comes after Caleb's Sallie Mae payment, but before mine.

Now, as much as we'd like to tell Sallie to stuff it, it is a better idea to take a look in category 4 and see if there's anything that can be cut.  Looks like we wont be saving to go to Ohio this month. :(

Voila, Ohio is gone, our math is adjusted and now we can move on to our CFP.  (See how messy things get when you use pen?)

If you're having trouble with this step because there's just too much debt, you'll want to use the pro rata plan.  Dave gives the basics here and here.  This is a more in depth look.  If you're this much underwater though, you'll want to get more help than we can offer here.

The CFP has many categories and subcategories for you to fill in.  Use your list as a guide and make any changes to the form that you might need.  You'll notice that is in basically the same order (Giving, Savings, 4 walls, etc.) as your list.  Fill in each item's cost in the Sub Total column.  At the end of each category, add up everything and put the total in the Total column.  At the end of each page, add up all your totals for the Page Total.  

If you're feeling particularly ambitious, or if addition just isn't enough to satisfy, divide the total for each category by your total income and fill in the % of Take Home Pay column on the far right.  This can be very useful if you've never budgeted before to see what areas are eating most of your income and might give you ideas for where to trim your lifestyle.

At the end of the month, you'll fill in the Actually Spent column (assuming you kept track of such things, which you should so that you can fill this in).  This will help you assess where changes need to be made so that you can make a better budget next month.  It takes a few months (3-6) to really get the hang of it.

Continue to fill in and add up categories through the whole sheet.  One nice thing about the CFP is all those categories because they'll help you think about all the things you might need to buy in a given month.  The trick to budgeting is planning ahead as much as possible.  Unexpected expenses will happen.  Use your emergency fund to cover them, then plan ahead for the next time.  Also, think a few months out.  Any big events approaching?  Birthdays and Christmas can be easier to afford if you spread the cost out.  If you save a little ($10 or $20) each month, then you wont be caught needing to pay $100 all at once.  Same goes for car repairs or household maintenance.  Establish a savings account dedicated to this, and suddenly, emergencies wont be, because you planned for them.

When you get to page three, you'll add up the totals from all three pages and compare them to the Total Household Income that you filled in earlier.  Hopefully, the Grand Total will be less.  If it isn't, you'll have to cut something.  Again, start with the Incidental categories: Recreation, Personal, perhaps Clothing and Restaurants.  If possible, don't cut these categories completely.  If you don't allow some fun in your budget, you will have fun outside of it and kill the whole thing.  

At the same time, it's important to recognize that getting out of debt means sacrificing.  This is the point where you need to tell the whiny kid inside of you to go into timeout and let the adult make tough decisions with the ultimate goal (financial peace and freedom for you and your family) always in mind.

Have things that you just can't cut, but know you should?  Or things you'd like to get eventually but aren't pressing at the moment?  Make a list.  We'll deal with them in Step 5.

If, however, your Grand Total is indeed less than your Total Household Income, this is not a license to party.  First, make sure that you've filled in everything you should have (all the categories on all 3 pages...), then it's time to do some subtraction.  Find out how much extra there is, and add that to the payment of your smallest debt.  This extra is known as a "Snowflake" and will help get your Debt Snowball rolling.  (We talked about our Debt Snowball back in May.)

Your Grand Total, minus your Total Household Income should equal ZERO.  Income = Out go.  So, add it up again and make it balance.  

Told you the eraser would come in handy.

Locavore Challenge Day 1

Our last post we talked about the Locavore Challenge put out by NOFA-NY for the month of September. There are any number of different challenges you can take on as part of the month that have to do with what you eat, where you buy it, and what kind of foods you put your money into. Our own personal challenge (along with the challenges we selected on the website) was to see how many foods we could eat that were sourced within 250 miles of home. This isn't something we've given a lot of thought to, though we would say we have been casually locavore since we've been married. In general, our local eating habits have been limited to honey, apples, and meat (read: quarter of beef we purchased last year). This month, we're going to see how many of our regular foods can come from within that 250 mile radius.  Here's a look at today. (NB we will not just be posting about foods for the next 30 days, but today is day 1 and we thought it would be a good idea to get the ball rolling.)

Breakfast: Wheat Germ Griddle Cakes from More With Less

• Wheat germ purchased from local co-op
• Local eggs and milk
• Local maple syrup and (homemade) maple cream

Dinner: Vegetable Pasta Salad from Simply in Season

• Summer squashed from the roadside stand
• Tomatoes from the co-op
• Cucumbers from our friends down the road

More to come about money, food, being locals, et al. In the meantime, visit the NOFA-NY website and sign up!