Donna Freedman

The quinoa baffler.

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Tonight’s dinner featured quinoa eaten within 30 feet of where it was grown. Not too many Alaskans – or too many U.S. citizens, actually – can say that.

This was our first year of growing quinoa and it did quite well. It grew tall quickly and never actually flowered, but its colorful seed heads were lovely to look upon.

What we ate was based on a recipe called Chicken Enchilada Quinoa Bake. “Based on” because I nixed the cheese (DF isn’t a fan) and also the green chiles (didn’t have any). The enchilada sauce* was homemade, from the Budget Bytes recipe, because it’s so easy and so cheap to make.

The cheese- and chile-less version was delicious. What made it even more special was how we got the seeds from the stalks. We’d done some by hand, which is a laborious (though oddly contemplative) process. At some point DF suggested we look up quinoa harvesting machines. We found one, too, but the cost was $899.

So we kept looking – and found the Rube Goldberg-esque design of our dreams.

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Talk nerdy to me.

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Last night I participated in Nerd Nite, Anchorage-style. Which is probably like Nerd Nite across the nation and in some other countries: Three speakers get 20 minutes each to talk about whatever subject geeks them out the most.

Also, there’s beer.

You can probably guess what I talked about.

Yep: personal finance. Specifically, why we lose our damn minds at Christmas and how to go about breaking the cycle. I was the second speaker, following a retired judge who spoke about Alaska judicial selection, which was a lot more interesting than it sounds. Then again, I’m nerdy.

 

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What’s your splurge?

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A woman I know spent part of the Alaska Permanent Fund Dividend payout ($1,100 this year) on herself. She described it as a “splurge,” but we’re not talking mani-pedis, airline tickets or high-octane chocolate.

Instead, she plunked down some of those annual bucks for a pair of items that are simultaneously sensible and self-indulgent:

A new set of flannel sheets, and

One of those Instant Pot* cookers.

Both are useful and both were on sale (with in-store coupons to boot), making each splurge doubly sensible. Yet they’re also supremely self-indulgent because they’ll make the winter so much cozier.

 

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At FinCon – and this year it’s MY turn to be sick.

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At last year’s FinCon, my daughter became seriously ill and wound up hospitalized. This year it’s my turn.

Not to be hospitalized, I hope, but to be sick. On Monday night I came down with the same bug that DF had just before it was time to leave for FinCon in Dallas. Spent a big chunk of Tuesday* at one of those doc-in-the-box places and then picking up three prescriptions and some food for the room.

Slept from about 4:30 to 11:30 p.m. yesterday, got up to take the last of the day’s meds and went right back under. Today I did something I haven’t done since, well, forever: I stayed in bed for the entire day. It felt weird, but I have to admit that it’s helping.

The three prescriptions probably also had a hand in my improvement. The fever and pounding headache are gone, I haven’t retched in 24 hours, and while I’m still barking like a seal the cough is what my physician terms “productive.” (Eeewww.)

All of which is a roundabout way of saying: I really, really hope to be well enough – and non-contagious enough – to do a Dallas reader meet-up.

 

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Your governor earns HOW much?!?

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Had I been asked which state hands the biggest salary to its head honcho, I’d have assumed California or New York.

In which case I’d have been wrong, as I learned while researching “What the governor gets paid in every state,” my latest piece on Money Talks News.

Learned some other interesting stuff, too, such as the fact that one governor’s wife worked as a summertime waitress to save up for a car and that another governor credits his mad budget-balancing abilities to his super-frugal mother, a widow who washed and re-used not just aluminum foil but also wax paper and plastic wrap.

And nope, I’m not going to say which governor earns top dollar. You’ll have to go read the article to find out.

 

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Swagbucks fun on Oct. 18 (that’s tomorrow).

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Just a quick post to say that:

Tomorrow (Wednesday, Oct. 18) will bring a Swag Code Extravaganza, and

A spooky new Swagbucks Team Challenge is currently afoot.

As anyone who reads here regularly already knows, this is my favorite rewards program. The points (called “SB”) that I earn pay for:

  • A goodly chunk of my birthday and holiday gifts
  • Dinner out when I visit my daughter and son-in-law
  • Paper products and food items for people in financial tight spots

About that last: I trade in the SB for Amazon gift cards and have the goods sent right to their doors. (Thanks, Amazon Prime!) In fact, I cash in most of my SB for Amazon cards, although recently I traded in for a Hot Topics card for a stylish young relative.

Bonus: You can trade SB for cash money, in the form of PayPal gift cards.

 

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Always getting ready.

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It was 20 degrees this morning. About time, too: This has been a weirdly warm fall, with temperatures in the low 50s as recently as the past weekend. Not that I like shivering when I get up, mind you, but it seems appropriate to the season.

Yet while putting the yard to bed today DF harvested the last of the green and red leaf lettuce. Planted right next to the house, it escaped the freeze. We ate some of the leaves on our suppertime hamburgers.

 

“The last of the outdoor harvest,” he noted. “Eating lettuce from the yard on October 16…Most years you think you’re lucky to be eating it on September 16.”

As I said: weirdly warm. Yet I felt a pang even as I snapped the crisp lettuce ribs between my teeth. Delicious – and the last. We’ll be blessed if we eat fresh salad again in June.

 

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Alaska Permanent Fund: Capped, but still producing.

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I’m $1,100 richer today. So are a lot of other Alaskans: The Alaska Permanent Fund will distribute about $672 million to residents young and old.

Even toddlers will get that $1,100 direct deposit or check. That blows minds in the Lower 48, but it seems totally normal here.

It was supposed to have been more; one recent estimate was about $2,300. But this is the second year in a row that Gov. Bill Walker capped the Permanent Fund dividend, resulting in some serious outcry from eligible recipients.

There’s a reason for that. According to a study from the University of Alaska’s Institute for Social and Economic Research, the PFD has traditionally lifted 15,000 to 25,000 Alaska residents out of poverty. The study also noted that reducing the check by $1,000 would likely send 12,000 to 15,000 more Alaskans down below the poverty line.

The annual payout is particularly important in rural Alaska: Without it, more than 20 percent of Bush residents would fall below the federal poverty threshold. I believe it, given the high cost of living out there. (Hint: If you think you pay too much for milk in your city, imagine forking over $10 a gallon.)

 

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‘The secrets of super savers,’ revealed.

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Think coupons aren’t worth it? Not if you’re doing them right – and it doesn’t have to eat up hours of your life. A new book from the authors of the Living On The Cheap website shows why.

“The Ultimate Guide to Coupons: How to Save More Money in Less Time and Get The Best Deals” shares what authors Teresa Mears and Laura Daily call the “secrets of super savers.”

Specifically, “the smart way to use coupons, investing just minutes to save dollars.” They’ve produced a book that stays true to the LOTC mission: to help people live their best lives without breaking the bank.

 

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Sign up now for a free summit on women and money.

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Kelly Gushue’s mother wasn’t taught anything about money. A divorce left her penniless, with children to raise. One of the things she preached to her daughter was financial independence.

Gushue is now a money coach with her own company, Personal Finance Warrior. “I believe that every woman has the ability to invest, actively manage her personal finances and increase her wealth,” she says.

“Increasing your wealth means increasing your power.”

That’s the topic of her upcoming money summit. “Claim your financial power: How to shift your mindset, take action and increase your wealth,” starts Monday, Oct. 2. It’s free, and it’s online; you don’t have to travel, or even to sign in at a specific time.

Instead, you’ll get a video every day for 21 days, featuring interviews on the topic of women and money. The money experts, business owners and media thought leaders interviewed are all women themselves.

Among those experts:

 

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