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Monday miscellany: Cheapest ways to be dead.

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Recently a friend of my daughter’s suffered the unexpected loss of a family member who lived in another state. Her friend’s mother is unemployed, and the friend herself doesn’t earn much money. Abby offered “to do what I do best: comparison shop to find them the best deal.” The best she could find had a … Read more

Anatomy of a frugal meal.

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It was close to suppertime, and no supper was in sight. We had three or four ounces of leftover pork tenderloin, bought deeply discounted and frozen until needed. I thought to slice it thinly, cook some rice and steam some peas from last year’s garden.

That would have been okay, but dull. Instead, I started pulling things out of the freezer:

A bag of chopped celery, also from last year’s garden

A bag of chopped red and yellow peppers, bought from the produce manager’s “ugly but still good” shelf

A bag of chopped onions – DF recently noticed an onion was starting to rot, so he cut and froze the still-good parts

A bit of turkey fat, from a bird we cooked a couple months ago; we save the fat from all pan juices, for cooking vegetables and making white sauce

Next, I put on a pot of rice (bought by the 50-pound bag at Costco) and melted the turkey fat, announcing that I planned to caramelize the vegetables and then add the diced tenderloin and some kind of sauce. DF diced the meat, then thinly sliced some carrots while I considered potential sauce ingredients.

What immediately jumped to mind was a bottle of General Tso’s sauce that I’d gotten free from our neighborhood’s Buy Nothing Facebook group. I poured maybe four tablespoons into a glass measuring cup, along with some rice vinegar (from an ancient bottle lurking in the lazy Susan) and a shake of powdered garlic (another Costco buy).

The slowly cooking onions, peppers, celery and carrot were making the kitchen smell divine. Maybe this olfactory distraction was what caused me to overdo the vinegar somewhat. It didn’t quite drown out the General Tso’s, but it didn’t do the sauce any favors, either. A few splashes from a jug of Langer’s pineapple-orange-guava juice (bought on sale, with a coupon) brought the vinegar into line and added a sweet hint of citrus.

Just typing this is making my mouth water. How about yours? 

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Support the reader economy: Giveaway #3.

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It’s Friday the 13th, but maybe this will be your lucky day: Time for another giveaway in my “Support the Reader Economy” series. 

Longtime readers know I’ve been giving things away since I started this site* back in May 2010.  Often the giveaways are things like books, gift cards, fun stuff from the Financial Blogger Conference, or combos that I make up, such as the “Coffeehouse Cliche Giveaway” (a fancy notebook and a Starbucks gift card, so you can be one of those folks writing the Great American Novel in a coffeehouse.

More recently I’ve been focusing a lot more on giveaway prizes made in Alaska, in an effort to support our local economy. But with inflation nibbling (or gobbling) at people’s financial well-being, I decided to create the Support the Reader Economy giveaway series.

The prize is a $15 gift card of the winner’s choosing. That could be a physical or virtual card, depending on your preference.

Sure, $15 won’t do much. But sometimes it’s fun to have $15 to play with – or to use to put a few gallons of gas in the car until payday. 

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Stamp Out Hunger: Can you help?

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This Saturday, May 14, marks the return of the “Stamp Out Hunger” campaign. The food drive was canceled for two years due to the pandemic. But this Saturday (May 14), the National Association of Letter Carriers will once again be collecting nonperishables to distribute to area food banks.

Can you help?

The country’s largest single-day food drive, Stamp Out Hunger will take place in 10,000 towns and cities across the United States. Given the scary-high price of food lately, it might feel harder to contribute. But let’s reframe that: Given the scary-high price of food lately, donations are needed more than ever.

If you can spare a can for your fellow man, I promise you that you’ll feel good about it. But only if you can afford it. You should not donate if you’re having trouble keeping food on your own table.

Or maybe your pantry is pretty secure, thanks to your frugalvore tendencies. Could you part with a box of mac ’n’ cheese or a can of tuna?

Tuna is a much-requested item, as are any protein sources. Here’s what the NALC is asking people to leave by their mailboxes on Saturday:

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“Stealth stock-up”: A budget saver.

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Food prices rose 8.8 percent between March 2021 and March 2022 – and the latest wrinkle is a mix of labor issues and “idle trains,” according to Reuters.

One way to fight food inflation is to stock your pantry and freezer with the most affordable food you can find today, before prices go up tomorrow.

Not everyone can afford to buy a side of beef or 50 pounds of pinto beans all at once.  But a tactic I call “stealth stock-up” just might save your food budget.

It’s pretty simple: Watch the sales flyers, and when your favorite brand** of pasta or cereal or tuna goes on sale, buy two instead of one. Buy three, if you can swing it.

That’s not to say you can’t also stock up on non-sale items, especially if they’ve been hard to get due to supply-chain issues. But the idea is to stretch available dollars and stash as much food as you can. Sale prices let you do both.

Already shopping this way? That doesn’t surprise me, since frugal people tend to read this site. It just makes sense to pay less.

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Giveaway: Alaska-made jewelry.

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I wanted to give away some more Alaska-made jewelry for Mother’s Day, but figured I had plenty of time. The other day I realized that the holiday is early this year: May 8. Yikes!

In order to allow a week for the giveaway to simmer, and then a few days to get the pieces mailed plus and a little time for those who don’t win to buy something else for Mom instead, I’m putting the giveaway up now.

Before I talk about the Alaska-made jewelry, though, I want to emphasize that this doesn’t have to be a Mother’s Day thing, for several reasons.

First, not everyone celebrates, because their moms are dead. Others have reasons not to want to give their moms the time of day, let alone a present. (It’s hard, but it happens.)

Finally, some people either believe in experiences rather than Stuff, or have been asked by their moms please not to send them any more Stuff. Clutter is a thing, especially as we age; we want to pare things down, not add to the problem. That’s why this does not have to be a Mother’s Day gift. Take your mom to lunch or gift her a massage, then use the jewelry as a gift for someone’s Confirmation, birthday or, heck, for next Christmas.

You could also choose to keep it, because why not give yourself a little somethin’ sparkly???

But back to the giveaway.

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13 ways to save money on bread.

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We save money on bread by making our own, with flour and yeast bought in bulk at Costco. Each time, DF writes the date and the price paid on the bag. (He saves those 50-pound sacks to use as yard waste receptacles.)

That’s how we know that between March 2021 and March 2022, the price went up 51.5 percent. In one year! And that’s why I suggested an article for Money Talks News called “13 ways to beat the rising cost of bread.”

This baker’s dozen of ideas includes our rustic bread fetish, of course. It also features tips for those who don’t bake. One or more of these tips could help you save money on bread, too, so check it out.

Some readers have specifically asked me to run links to pieces I’ve written* lately, which is why I’m doing this roundup. Note: Some of my recent work is either fairly boring (useful, but eye-glazing) or else it’s unsigned. Thus these roundups focus on stuff that won’t put people to sleep, or out the folks for whom I ghost-write.

Another piece for Money Talks News is a topic that regular readers might find familiar. “11 ways to turn table scraps into delicious meals” starts with a sobering stat from the U.S. Department of Agriculture: Almost one-third of the U.S. food supply winds up going to waste. Maybe more, since this was an older study.

So what do frugal people do? Repurpose it! Boiling bags, gleaning, liquid assets, turning “bad” dairy into good ingredients and other tactics help us get the most out of every ingredient. 

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A chance to meet a reader.

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During the no- or low-spend February challenge, a reader named A. Marie mentioned she had been interviewed for the “Meet a reader” feature at a site called The Frugal Girl.

(That interview can be found here, if you’d like to go learn more about the awesome A. Marie. Go ahead. I’ll wait.)

Now: Who else is interested in being interviewed?

Yep, I’m appropriating The Frugal Girl’s idea. In part that’s because it sounds like great fun. After all, one of my favorite things about being a writer is getting to talk with people, and I’d love to chat with some of you in real life. (Well, over the phone.)

In fact, I have chatted with some of you in real life, during my travels, and it’s always stimulating.

The other reason I think “Meet A Reader” will fit here is that you folks tend to start conversations in the comments. Seems you’re already meeting readers, in a sense, and bringing us into the conversation. So why not make it official? 

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A retirement trial run.

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I almost didn’t write this post. Not because I was too busy, but rather because I was too busy not being busy. This is my seventh day in Phoenix, and I’ve accomplished relatively little since arriving.

Last week’s overnight flight (Friday night/Saturday morning) provided little sleep due to twin meltdowns: An adult a few rows ahead of me and a toddler a few rows behind me. The adult sobbed aloud (“I can’t do this, I just can’t doooooo this….”) every time we hit turbulence. And there was a lot of turbulence.

The toddler screamed for a big chunk of the six-hour flight. They’d get her calmed down and she’d start up again. The mom in me wondered if an ear infection was involved, since she stopped crying once the plane landed.

Either way, I got relatively little sleep. That first day (Saturday) is kind of a blur and did, in fact, involve a nice long nap. But every day since, I’ve found ways to skirt most work in favor of reading, sleeping, eating and watching a ton of TV* with my daughter.

A couple days ago I realized, “This is a trial run at retirement.” 

You know, doing whatever you want. Getting up when it damn well suits you. Moving at the pace that seems relevant to the day. Eating when you feel hungry, vs. during a “lunch break.” Reading until your eyes blur. Hanging out with loved ones and talking about everything, or talking about nothing at all if you’d rather be absorbed in an excellent drama. Going to bed when it damn well suits you.

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Goodbye, medical collections debt.

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Got medical debt? So do a lot of people: About one in five U.S. households have medical-related debt, according to a new study from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. And medical collections debt can do a number on your credit score (as in, a lower number).

But change is coming, in three ways:

As of July 1, 2022, paid-off medical collections debt will no longer appear on your credit report.

The time frame for unpaid medical collections debt’s appearance on your credit report will double. Consumers will have one year, rather than six months, to deal with insurance companies and/or negotiate with healthcare agencies before the debt is officially reported.

Finally, in the first half of 2023, the three major credit reporting agencies (Equifax, Experian and TransUnion) will not list medical collection debt that’s $500 or less.

This is huge for those who’ve fallen victim to what the CFPB calls “opaque pricing” and “complicated insurance or charity care coverage and pricing rules.” (Rohit Chopra, director of the CFPB, refers to it as “a doom loop.”) Those who are experiencing medical emergencies, as well as those who have chronic illnesses, may feel they have no choice to shoulder the costs associated with getting care. 

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