Work Life Balance

A few weeks ago I started reading a book called "I Know How She Does It: How Successful Women Make the Most of Their Time".  The author found a few hundred highly successful women, most of which who happen to also be working moms, and had them log their time for a week, and then analyzed the results.

(sidenote: if you're interested in the journal, you can find them here.)

I've gotten a lot out of this book, but mostly this: Stop thinking about your time as a day, 24 limited hours.  There are 168 hours in a week.  If you work 45, and sleep 56 (8 hours a night), there's still 67 hours for other things. You have a 1 hour roundtrip commute?  Then you still have 62 hours left.  You spend 3 hours a day getting ready and/or eating meals?  You still have 41 hours, to do with what you will.  Basically: STOP MAKING EXCUSES.  It's not that you don't have time to do the things that bring you joy--you're just bad at managing your time.

I'm not saying this to anyone else. I'm saying it to myself.  I had a wake up call.  Since having my kid, I've dropped my gym membership, stopped going to my caving grotto events, and just generally stopped doing a lot of things, using the excuse that "I'm a busy working mom". 

Which I am.  Sure.  I'm also a giant hypocrite. I'm in charge of time management and productivity training at my company...

But what have I been doing with those "free" hours?  Sure, 26 of those non-working-sleeping-eating-commuting hours are the weekend, and weekends tend to fill up pretty quickly at our house.  Those other 15 hours?  What am I doing with those?  I'll tell you...

...sitting on my couch scrolling through Facebook or Pinterest, with the TV on in the background (all hail the DVR).  That is our nightly ritual after Lil' Man goes to bed.  Get home from work, dinner,  about an hour or so of playing with the kid, and then *boom*, we're vegetables.

There are so many better things I could be doing.  Or at the very least--things that I could be doing WHILE watching TV!

So...I made a list.  A list of Things that I Would Like to Do More.

• Crochet.  I learned to crochet from my mom when I was a kid. I'm not good at it--I know exactly two stitches. My mom is left-handed, so I had trouble learning from her.  But I can still make things.  Chunky yarn hides a litany of poorly spaced stitches. I've got a basket overflowing with full skeins of yarn, but haven't made anything in a couple years.
• Crafting. I enjoy making things. I have a Pinterest board.  I have a CRAFTING ROOM IN MY HOUSE.  In which I've never made a thing (except beer.  We're pretty good at that).
• Crossword Puzzles.  My ideal weekend would start with a cup of coffee and the answer to 1 Across.
• Volunteering.  We currently volunteer at our church 2x a month, but I'd like to do more.  Usually my bi-monthly blood donations fill this need, but because of a trip to the apparently malaria-riddled Punta Cana, I'm benched until April of 2018.
• Exercising.  I'm a Flabby Abby and I know it. I get winded coming upstairs from the basement.
• Blogging.  I have about 10 recipes I could post right now, but don't make the time.
• Education.  There's some MIT Open Courseware classes I downloaded several years ago, planning to help fill gaps in my formal education.  I've never started any of them.
• Devotions. I have an alarm on my phone that tells me to do a devotional every day at lunch.  This gets ignored more often than not.
• Play outside with my kid/husband.  I see very little sunlight.
• Spend quality time with The Hubs. Sitting side-by-side watching TV at night while we each have our computers in our laps does not count.
• Have lunch outside the office.  I eat lunch at my desk almost every work day. And not necessarily because I'm working through lunch. Far too often I end up watching YouTube videos of people cooking while intoxicated, or Irish folks saying funny things about American food that wouldn't be half as funny if not for those awesome accents, or comparing street tacos to lavish meals.  Which, sure, is entertaining, but there are better ways to use this time.
• Date Nights.  This is probably something every couple with kids wants more of.  But sitters are pricey and we don't have local grandparents to drop our tot off with.

Quite a list.  But none of these are all that daunting individually, or even costly (Date Nights probably being the most so).  And the big revelation--most of these aren't even things I need/want to do every DAY.  Just MORE.

So, then I started thinking: how often could I reasonably do these things?  Or how often do I want to?  When can I fit them in?

What	How Often	When
Crochet	2-3x / week	While watching TV in evenings
Crafting	1x / month	An evening or weekend
Crossword Puzzles	1-2x / week	Saturday or Sunday mornings
Volunteer	1 hour, every other month	After work
Exercise	3x / week	Mornings? (ugh), during lunch, evenings
Blog	2x / month	During lunch, evenings
Online Course	2-3x/week	During lunch
Devotions	daily	During lunch (come on, lady, it takes like 5 minutes.)
Play Outside w/Family	2-3x/week (in good weather)	Weekends, After work
Quality Time w/The Hubs	every night	Before day care pickup / After Lil' Man goes to bed
Lunch Out	1x / week	During lunch (duh.)
Date Night	1x / month	Any Night

So...I started trying. I started small. On Sunday, I worked on the Washington Post crossword online while I drank coffee and made breakfast. Granted, I then didn't have time to shower before church, but hey...I did a thing.

I found an online devotional that I liked, and added a shortcut on my internet taskbar to make it as easy as possible to NOT ignore my daily lunchtime reminder.

Then on Tuesday night, I played card games with The Hubs instead of vegging on the couch.  And it was nice.  He slaughtered me, but it was still nice.

And then the next night, I grabbed some yarn and started working on an infinity scarf while we watched Expedition Unknown.

The next morning, I had to get up early for a work meeting. Both The Hubs & Lil' Man were still asleep, so I did on the USA Today crossword while eating breakfast. (I suspect that USA Today's puzzles don't get harder as the week goes on, because there's no way I could finish the newspaper's Thursday crossword in 17 minutes.)

Friday night, I cut out of work a little early and met The Hubs for happy hour at our favorite watering hole.  Then after picking up the kid, we played outside in his "water table" (read: storage tote filled with water and toys) while waiting for dinner to cook.

On Saturday, my brain woke up early, so instead of rolling around for another half hour, I got up, ran up & down the stairs 10 times, did about 10 minutes of floor exercises in the basement, then made a cup of coffee and read for a bit. Was it a LOT of exercise? No.  But it was better than none.

And obviously, I found made some time to blog, otherwise you wouldn't be reading this.  Did I hit all of my items? No.  But I had a great week.  And that's the real point, right?  I made time to do things that bring me joy, and it didn't require any sacrifices--I just used my time more wisely. Hopefully I can keep it up.  I suspect the exercise will be the hardest part--because it's not really something I WANT to do, but it's something I know I NEED to do.  So I'll work at it.

Hope you all have a joy-filled week and can make the time to do things you love.

Homemade Lotion Bars & Peppermint Body Scrub

This year, my family decided to have a white elephant gift exchange for the adults.  I wanted to put together a “pampering” gift set to bring, but my sis- & mom-in-law have both gone uber-organic & all natural with their food, beauty products & household cleaning.  So rather than spend hours on the EWG Database trying to find products that get a grade they would approve of (and pay who knows how much, which would limit the number of things I could include in the gift), I decided to just go homemade.

There’s some comfy PJ pants on the bottom, and some of my homemade cocoa mix in the mug… homemade peanut clusters & peppermint bark in the star tin (not really “organic”, but what’s pampering with out a “little” indulgence?)  And the other items:

Peppermint body scrub in the small jar, and solid lotion bars in the tall jar.

Peppermint Sugar Scrub:

2 cups granulated white sugar

1/4 cup olive oil, almond oil, or melted coconut oil (your choice)

Peppermint extract or essential oil (3-4 drops)

Directions:

Mix the three ingredients until well combined & place into a clean, sterile jar.

 

Lotion Bars: (makes four 2’'”x2” bars)

2  Tbsp organic beeswax (I got this from our local natural market in the bulk section)

2 Tbsp Coconut oil (I used Lou-Ana because I already had it in my pantry, but you can get organic for a couple bucks more)

2 Tbsp sweet almond oil (also found this at our natural food store)

10 drops Vitamin E (Wal-Mart)

12 drops essential oil (I used vanilla, but pick whatever scent you like.  Here’s a good guide for blending scents if you’d like to use multiple oils) – found this at Hobby Lobby in the soap/candle making section, and used a coupon to get it half-price

Decorative ingredients (I used dried lavender sprinkled on top, but I’ve seen some with whole coffee beans that look really pretty) – Optional

Glass jar (something you can dedicate to this project—it will be really tough to clean it out afterward. I used a well-cleaned pickle jar).

Mold (I used a metal mini tart pan; you could also pour them into mini-muffin wrappers)

Directions:

Add 2-3 inches of water to a small pot that the jar will fit into, and heat water over medium heat.  Add all of the ingredients except the essential oil, and stir periodically.  The beeswax will take the longest to melt.  Don’t let the water boil, you don’t want to scald the mixture.

When the beeswax is fully melted, add the essential oils.  You can add more than 12 drops if you want a stronger scent.  Test it by dropping a drop of the mixture onto a plate, let it set, and then run your fingers across it & rub into your skin.  When you like the scent & feel of it, you can transfer into the molds.  Silicone molds can be found at craft stores; I used a metal tart pan that has removable bottom plates, so I could easily pop them out.

(This was the first batch I made—I originally tried making five bars but they didn’t fill the pan well, so I scraped the mix out of two, re-melted, and then poured it into another shell.)

Once the bar starts to harden, you can add the decorative ingredients:

Place in the fridge for about 15 minutes to fully set up.  Then you can pop them out of the pan!

I shredded some brown packing paper in our paper shredder to help decorate the jar, and then placed the bars inside (with small squares of wax paper between to keep them from sticking together.)

Of course…I had to hold back a couple bars for myself!  I love the smell and the feel of the lotion. It dissolves well & just melts into your skin.  I definitely want to try a few other scents in the future—maybe even infusing my own essential oils!

And the best part?  It was SUPER cheap to make!  Organic hard lotion bars can go for $4-5 per bar, for less than 1 oz of product!  This cost me a whopping 35 CENTS per bar.

Getting out of Debt: Part Deux.

So I got a few comments/emails on the last finance post which indicated that some follow up might be needed.  Primarily, it was pointed out that “sure, it’s easy for you to get out of debt:  you’re a two-good-income family with no kids.”  And while yes, that is true, as I mentioned in my last post, I had gotten rid of most of my debt before I got married.  And I had done it multiple times.  So I wanted to offer a “part deux” of tips that are helpful whether you’re single, married with kids, a college student, whatever.

1)  Bite the bullet & get a second job.  That was me, from age 22 to 26.  Three of those years I was also a college student (the latter year during my masters).  Yes, it sucks.  Yes, you will have no free time for fun.  Yes, you will get stressed because your second job will likely be something that might be considered “beneath” you.  For me, the second job was delivering pizzas.  Honestly, if you need a second job, this is the one I recommend if you have a somewhat reliable, non-gas-guzzling car.  I made minimum wage as my base hourly, but averaged about $15-20/hour with tips.  Granted—a lot of that goes back into your car for maintenance, but hey—extra money is extra money.  And pizza shops are open long hours, 7 days a week, which makes it easy for them to give you hours outside of your normal work schedule.  During my junior & senior year of college, I was working for the campus newspaper 25 hours a week, taking 12 hours of classes, and delivering pizzas about 30 hours a week.  After I graduated, I was working full time at a local TV station, and still doing pizza 30+ hours a week.  Was I exhausted all the time?  Yup.  But I was also throwing an extra $1500 at my debt every month, which to me made it all worth it.  (PS—you also get a lot of free pizza, which helps the grocery budget.)

Moi, rockin’ the PJ’s uniform, circa 2003.

Will you get frustrated?  Absolutely.  I can’t even count the number of times some customer treated me like garbage, to which I would smile, apologize, get back in my car, and then beat the crap out of my steering wheel while screaming, “I HAVE A BACHELOR’S DEGREE!!!!”  But, then I’d get a couple really nice customers, some good tips, and it would all even out.  You just have to keep your eye on the goal:  No. More. Debt.  And the harder you work, the less time you will have to do it.  Remember:  The second job is temporary.  You’re not going to be this stressed forever.  It is a means to an end—an end to your debt, which is the most overwhelming freedom I can think of.  It is 100% worth it.

2) If you’re married/have a partner, you MUST communicate about money & be on the same page.  Dave Ramsey says that every couple has one spender, and one saver—or, “one free spirit & one nerd”.  If you’re the one reading this, and you’re the one who’s motivated to get out of debt, you’re probably the nerd (no offense).  And these opposing views of finances are often what cause marital strife; did you know that approximately 45% of divorces are due to financial problems?  One person goes out & spends the dough, the other person gets mad, they fight, but nothing gets resolved. In fact, the spender probably goes out & buys something else to make themselves feel better.  Free-spirit spenders don’t like making budgets. It doesn’t sound like fun.  But you HAVE to find a way to get them on board BEFOREHAND, while making the budget, otherwise they will feel like the budget is being imposed on them—like it is something you’re doing TO them, rather than something you’re doing together.

Nagging WILL NOT WORK.  You need good, clean, open, honest conversation.  If you can, get a sitter (if you have kids), cook a nice meal for your spouse, share a drink, and then tell them that you’re excited about the idea of getting on a budget.  You’re scared about having debt for the rest of your life.  You’re nervous that you’re living beyond your means and that you don’t have enough savings to cover your butts if one of you were to lose your job.  Tell them your goals for the future, and ask them what their goals are—and then DISCUSS how being out of debt could make that happen sooner.  Did you never get to have a “real” honeymoon because money was too tight?  Talk about how once you’re debt free, you could finally take that trip.  Got kids?  Talk about how much more you could bless them by being able to travel, or help them with college, if you had no debt.  When you have no debt, you can do almost anything.  You can be charitable:  you could take money that used to go to the credit card companies and bless someone’s life with it.  We’ve all made a list of the things we would do if we won the lottery---try making a list of things you’d do if you had no debt and money in the bank.  It’s just as much fun to dream about—and it’s something you have far better odds of ACTUALLY DOING.

Let them know that you need their help to make this work.  Make sure they understand that they’re not the only one who will be making sacrifices (and make sure that’s true:  when it comes budget time, make sure you’re giving up things that you care about as well).  Don’t point fingers, because often even “the nerd” has bad spending habits.  (Example: “I know I’m causing us to spend too much on our cable package just because I wanted all those movie/sports/news channels.”  ‘Nerds’ also have a tendency to like having the faster internet package, or a better data package on their cell phone, etc.)  Also, find out if a Financial Peace course is being offered somewhere near you.  I just did a quick search and there are 15 of them in my area.  They’re often hosted by churches, so it’s a good neutral ground.

When it comes time to make the actual budget, do your best to make it fun.  This will be tough—because budgets aren’t fun.  BUT, you can use apps and online programs that create bright & colorful pie charts, which are almost fun…but you should probably get a bottle of wine or a 6-er of their favorite beer to share as well.  :D

3) Know the Basic Budget Ratios:  When you start building your budget, first, calculate your family’s average monthly net income.  Then multiply that by these percentages to see what the maximum amount you should be spending in any category is.  If you’re paying off debt, you should probably aim for the the minimums on most of these because that gives you the most amount of leftover $$ to throw at your debt—and because obviously—you can’t go with the “max” in every category, because that adds up to more than you make.  These are intended to be ranges.  If you’re single or a two-person family, you can easily go with the minimums on food & clothing, for example.

Category	Minimum %	Maximum %
Charity	10	15
Savings	5	10
House (mortgage, insurance, taxes, maintenance)	25	35
Utilities (lights, water, gas + tv, phone, web)	5	10
Food (groceries & dining out)	5	15
Auto (loan, insurance, gas, maintenance)	10	15
Clothing (plus makeup, hygiene, etc.)	2	7
Medical (including FSA/HSA)	5	10
Totals	67%	117%

And whatever you do, don’t cut out that first one.  I’m not gonna get preachy on you, but if you’re a church-goer, please tithe at least 10% of your net income.  If you’re not a church-goer, find a good charity that you care about and donate that same percentage there (I am personally a HUGE fan of the Modest Needs program).  Blessing others is part of having a healthy financial well-being.  Pastors love to say “God can do more with the 10% than you can with 100%”, and it’s true.  I started seeing infinitely more blessings (both financial & personal) come my way once I started tithing and giving.  Getting out of debt does you no good if you are selfish with the money you now have, and giving a percentage while you’re on your budget gets you into the habit of being financially charitable.  Because while you’re helping yourself, you’ll also see the difference you’re making in others’ lives, which will make you feel twice as good about your decision to get on a budget.

Also, you may want to build in a “miscellaneous” category in case of emergencies or variable expenses that change from month to month (like utilities, vehicle fuel, gifts). I’d recommend about 3-5% for this category.  Here’s a really great article on budgeting for non-fixed expenses.

Your budget should account for EVERY SINGLE DOLLAR of your income.  If you’re hourly and your paycheck fluctuates, look over your last 4-8 paystubs and calculate your average.  If you finish your budget and you have $52 left over, that needs to be assigned somewhere in the budget (probably to debt payoff).  Spend every dollar “On Paper, On Purpose” before the money even comes in.  This is how you take control of your finances instead of letting them control you.

4) Plan a reward (and fund it):  You know what’s a lot more fun than making a budget?  Planning a vacation!  Get together with your family (or by yourself if you’re single) and brainstorm ideas for what you would like to do together once you’ve paid off your last debt.  Maybe it’s finally going to the Grand Canyon, or taking a Disney Cruise, or simply a long weekend at the beach.  Maybe it’s a new HDTV, or a DIY kitchen remodel.  Or, if you’re a newly married couple w/no kids—maybe your reward is finally have kids (assuming you want them).  A friend of mine said she & her husband used that as their goal after they got married & combined their debts.

Then get together & plan it.  How much will it cost?  What hotel(s) would you like to stay at? How much will you need for meals/gas/airfare? Plan it all out on paper, and figure out roughly how much it will cost. (Add 5% to that for a good pad/inflation in case it takes a while to get to your goal.)  Once you have your budget, you should also be able to calculate out about how long it will take to pay off your debt. 

For the sake of example, let’s say you need about 1 year to pay off your debt, and your reward is going to cost about $1000.  Now get a jar: a nice big pickle jar, and let the kids help decorate it.  Name it whatever inspires your family: “Our Debt Free Trip!” or “Our New TV!”; something to that effect.  You then put (in this example) a $20 bill in that jar every week (make sure to account for that when you’re building your budget) until you’re out of debt.  If the kids want to help, let them throw in change or leftover allowance if they feel moved to do so.   Every so often, get together with the family and talk about the things you want to do on your vacation so that your goal stays fresh in everyone’s mind and keeps everyone motivated.  Let family members write down their suggestions for places to eat or fun things to do & drop those into the jar too.  Remind them that once you are out of debt, you will be free to do more things like this (providing you save up for them, of course).  Then, at the end of that year, if your debts are paid off, you should have at least $1040 in the jar for reward.

5) Sacrifices:  You’re going to have to trim the fat for a while until you get your spending & debt under control.  How much you trim depends on you, but remember—the more “luxuries” you cut out right now, the faster the debt goes away, and the sooner you can possibly start getting some of those back.  Do you need both a data plan for your phone AND internet at home?  Could you get rid of cable/satellite for a year and just watch shows on the internet?  Do you really need three cars in your garage---and is it logistically feasible to possibly go to ONE car for a year?  Instead of packing up your family of 4 & going to dinner and/or a movie every weekend, could you switch to once a month, and have family game nights the other weekends instead?   Can you survive the summer by opening the windows & using box fans instead of keeping the house at 69 degrees all the time, or use space heaters and extra blankets in the winter?  Could you maybe go to the salon every 8-10 weeks instead of once a month?  Can you do your own pedicure instead of paying someone $20-30?  Can you have a garage sale?  Maybe sell some items on Ebay?  Can the kids take a cut in allowance (say, go to $5 instead of $10/week) while you’re paying off debt?  Could you curb your bi-weekly shopping trips to once every other month until the debt is gone?  Can you switch to generics and clip coupons and do price matching to save on groceries?  These are just examples and they may not all be applicable to you.  But take a look around your house and look at the luxuries that can go.  It will sting.  But much like ripping off a Band-Aid, that stinging is temporary, because your DEBT PROBLEM should be temporary.  Once you conquer that, you can bring back some of those luxuries, within reason.  You don’t want to go into debt again.  And who knows?  You may find that your quality of life improves with some of those sacrifices.

6) Stay on Top of Your Budget:  Once you have the budget, you have to constantly check on it to make sure it’s working.  If you go with an all-cash system like Dave Ramsey’s “Envelope System”, this will probably be pretty easy—if you run out of cash in that envelope, you’ll know pretty quick that something’s gone awry.  But it shouldn’t get to that point.  Be aware of how much is left in each category.  I recommend checking in at least weekly.  If you’re doing an online budget tracking like Mint.Com, get together with your spouse/partner once a week and review where the money is going and how much is left.  That way, there are no surprises. 

7) OBEY THE BUDGET: If you know you have $40 left in your Clothing fund, then you get to the check out and you have $45 in purchases, don’t just say “ah well” and pay the extra.  PUT SOMETHING BACK, or you’re defeating the purpose of the budget.  If it continues to happen—say, you can never make it to the end of the month with your grocery budget, even though you’re clipping coupons and down to “beans & rice, rice & beans”, then your budget probably needs some adjusting. And that’s normal.  If this is your first time making a budget, you can’t expect to get it perfect.  But give priority to the “necessity” categories (utilities, food, roof over your head).  If those budgets are short even after making drastic cuts, cut from your “luxury” categories to move more money into the necessities.  Maybe it means turning off the internet completely for a while (you can go to the library or other spots with free wifi). Maybe it means your kids’ next round of school clothes have to come from the thrift store or hand me downs.  Again—remember the sacrifices are temporary and serve a bigger purpose, and once your debt is gone, the budget won’t be so tight. 

8) Try to Keep it Fun: Instead of thinking of it as a sacrifice, think of it as a Challenge:  your personal challenge to make yourself and your family the thriftiest sale-finders on the block.  Earlier this year, I decreed my own Fashion Challenge to update my closet on a budget. Last year, I revamped our Christmas Tree for under $20.  Get the kids involved: spread out the sale ads & see who can find the best deals on groceries.  Who can find the best coupons (and stores to double them)?  Who can put together the cutest outfit at the thrift store for $10?  If your kids are older & can help with dinner, organize a cooking challenge—who can make the tastiest meal on the smallest budget?  Give out awards like “the winner gets to pick this weekend’s movie/tonight’s TV show” that don’t cost extra cash.  Finding a good bargain always feels good, and if you’re involving the kids you’re teaching them about money and how to be conscious of their own finances. 

How to Have Ab-“Normal” Finances

So, my husband & I are not NORMAL 30-somethings.  We acknowledge and embrace this.  And we frequently get asked “how we’ve done what we’ve done”.  The following things are true about us:

• We have no student loan debt (even with two bachelor’s & two master’s degrees between us)
• We have no credit card debt (true even before we got married).
• We own both of our vehicles outright (also true before we got hitched).
• We own our home—no mortgage payments.
• We own our own business (even though we both still have full time jobs, because we’re apparently craaaazzzzyyyyy) and have NO debt on it.
• If one of us lost our job tomorrow, we have enough in savings to cover that reduced income for over 6 months.
• We each have multiple retirement accounts (401ks & Roths) that we contribute to monthly.

This isn’t intended to be braggish…I just cannot tell you the amazing feeling of peace that I have writing the above things.  We have been so blessed in so many ways. 
But it wasn’t always that way.  Neither of us came from money.  Our parents didn’t go fishing for fun—we went fishing for FOOD (though it did happen to BE fun, most of the time). I do in fact know what deer, squirrel, rabbit, and frog taste like—and not from trying them at a fancy exotic meats restaurant.  While other families went to Yellowstone or Disney World on vacation—we went camping. My first year of college I got extra financial aid because my dad had been out of work for a year and that dropped our household into the “low income” category.  Most of my clothes were hand-me-downs from my older cousins (who, thank heaven, were pretty stylish—I WORE OUT the pairs of Lucky jeans that got handed down) and new clothes usually came from Wal-Mart.  The dress from my senior prom was borrowed from my mom’s best friend, whose daughter was a couple years older than me.

I LURVED this dress.  It made me feel like Jessica Rabbit.

In college, I racked up multiple credit lines of debt (Free T-Shirts, what???) and had horrendous spending habits (not enough cash for pizza?  That’s okay—just put it on this “emergency” credit card that I signed up for because it came with a cool tie-dye background!!!)  There was a time when I needed a $300 repair on my car and I just broke down in tears because I had absolutely no way to pay for it. I was scraping by paycheck to paycheck, working MULTIPLE jobs & going to college, while paying the minimums on my credit cards.  I had one credit company file a suit against me for a credit card that I had stopped paying…and that card only had a $1200 limit on it.  I didn’t get a 401k until I was 27, even though I’d been offered one through my employer at age 22—because I didn’t understand how they worked & didn’t realize I could “roll it over” into my next job. I once got EIGHT overdraft fees on my bank account in the same MONTH—that’s $280 of money out of my pocket simply because I never kept track of how much money was in my bank account.
But…funny thing is… THAT is normal.

• 92% of Americans have a car payment.
• 80% of American households have some sort of debt.
• 67% of households in the U.S. currently have a mortgage, and the average monthly payment is $1300.
• 65% of Americans who graduated college between 1996 – 2013 currently have student loan debt, with the average amount of loans after graduation hovering around $32k.
• 46.7% of households carry a balance on their credit cards each month, and the average amount of credit card debt per household is over $15,000.
• Only 25% of Americans say they have enough savings to cover 6 months of expenses if they were to lose their job.
• 45% of working-age Americans have no retirement savings.

That’s a little depressing, right?  But just because something is “normal” doesn’t mean it’s right, or that you have to accept it for your life.
How did we get to our “abnormal” status?  Here’s our “How-To” list for getting to “abnormal” finances. Hopefully there’s a nugget of something you can find useful.
1. We spent a crapload of time at college.  I have to point this out because otherwise it’s just the giant elephant in the room blog.  We both have 4 year degrees and a master’s.  Which is something that only about 11% of Americans can say (note: over 30% of Americans have a Bachelor’s degree). But it’s not like we’re “using” that grad degree to climb the corporate ladder.  My husband still works the same job he did before he got his MBA, and only about half of my coworkers at the same tier as me have their master’s.  And NO, I’m not saying you have to go to college to get out of debt—in fact, I know plenty oil-field workers in Louisiana who make double what I do with no college education whatsoever.  But college was the road we took.  And we got pretty good jobs because of it.  Together, our household income just barely cracks into six figures, which is above average for our area.  We’ve also been in our professional careers for a good while now…I’ve got almost 8 years under my belt in my current field & the Hubs just celebrated 10 years with his company.  So sticking it out does pay off.

Thank you MSU…and your beautiful fountain that is only ever turned on for pretty photos like this.

I’m also not advocating spending a crapton of cash on fancy schools.  We both went to a state school & did just fine—and we both chose to go to that state school BECAUSE the school offered us a (small) scholarship, while other schools we applied to hadn’t.  We took the ACT test multiple times to qualify for a Bright Flight scholarship.  My senior year, my parents made me apply for every single scholarship that I even remotely qualified for.  We both worked while we were in college so that we only had to get loans to cover the basic tuition costs.  There’s a lot of financial aid out there for those who are willing to work for it.

2. Dave Ramsey’s Debt Snowball.  I can’t tout the awesomeness of this man enough.  I started listening to his radio show when I was about 23 while delivering pizzas in college.  This was not long after I had that credit card judgment against me, and right around the time I had the breakdown over the $300 car repair.  I started to realize how ridiculous it was that I had two jobs, made pretty decent money, was at work or school all the time, but still never had any money in the bank.  Where was it going?  I didn’t think I was living frivolously…I mean, I wasn’t eating steak dinners every night or feeding my cat raw ahi tuna.  But I wasn’t spending consciously either.  Eating out more than I cooked, hanging out with friends, spending $5/day at the university vending machines, buying CDs and thrift-store shopping when I got bored…THOSE were the things that were killing me.  It’s different for everyone.  Once I stopped ignoring my debt & faced it head on, I wanted it to go away.  And the only way to make that happen was to pay it off.  I used Dave’s Debt Snowball theory, where you pay off your smallest debt first, and then roll what you were paying on that into your next smallest debt, etc. etc.  The feeling of paying off that first debt (a loan for a laptop that I had been paying on for over 2 years but still owed $250 on) was AMAZING.  I was hooked.  Next was a $750 credit card balance.  Then a $1000 Perkins loan.  Then more credit cards, then a car loan, then the student loans… debts start to disappear a heckuva lot faster when you have an extra $300-500 to throw at them each month.
I can’t say I didn’t backslide from time to time.  There were several times (like when I moved to Louisiana, or when I moved out on my own) that the credit card debts started to climb again.  But I just went back to the basics & started the Snowball all over again.  And in 2009, I paid off the last of my credit card balances.  Today, I still use credit cards, but I pay off the balance each month.

3. We have a modest home.  Median home value for our town is $144k.  My husband bought our house for about $90k in 2005; it was new construction at the time and has about 1300 sq ft of living space.  It’s perfect for us right now, though we’ll probably have to upgrade someday when we have kids kids’ toys to contend with.  The average home value across the U.S. is $167,000 and the average mortgage payment is $1300/month.  When we got married, we tripled the amount we were sending to the bank each month (because we had the extra money from my former rent payment, and now sharing utility costs).  Then, last year, I received a small inheritance & we used a portion of that to pay the last of it off---but even if we hadn’t done that, we still would have paid it off this year. 
If you’re in the market to buy a house, make sure you don’t get more house than you can afford, and save up for a nice down payment—10-15% is recommended (you’ll get a better interest rate too—and when you’re talking about spending six figures on something, you NEED that low interest rate).  And get a 15-year fixed mortgage, with a monthly payment that is NO MORE than 25% of your monthly take home.  Dave’s got a great calculator here so you can determine how much home you can afford. And my favorite adage is: “Never have more house than you’re willing to clean by yourself.” :D

If you’re buyin’ this house, youze best be able to afford a maid too.  And a pool guy. And probably a window guy, and a landscape guy…

4. We have used cars.  I’ve never owned a new car in my life…and I’m completely okay with that.  Did you know the average new vehicle loses about $4,000 in value the SECOND you drive it off the lot?  The “newest” vehicle I’ve ever owned was 3 years old when I bought it—it even still had about 15,000 miles of warranty left on it.  I paid $12k for it, drove it for 5 years, and then sold it for $8500.  Which means it depreciated in value only about $700/year during the time I owned it (30% overall).  I then took that $8500 & put it toward a nice “new to me” vehicle that we bought for about $9700—which means I was only out of pocket $1200 for my “new” car.  And I must say—paying cash for a car feels pretty freakin’ fantastic.
People tend to buy too much car, and then accept a longer financing term (up to 5 years) in order to make their payments affordable.  But if you decide you don’t want to keep that car for 5 years and it’s not paid off when you decide to trade it in, then you’re “upside down” in your loan (i.e.—you owe more than it’s worth).  But no worries—they’ll just roll the difference into your new financing, right?  So now you’re even further in debt.  Studies show that around 30% of Americans are upside-down in their car loans. 
How do you break the cycle?  Again, I refer you to Dave Ramsey for some easy (though not instantaneous) rules for how to get into a $10,000 car that you OWN outright in 30 months, even if you only own a $1500 clunker right now.  
But if you DO have to get a car loan: a) don’t buy more car than you can afford (experts say no more than 10-15% of your monthly take home as a payment), b) don’t get a loan term longer than 36 months, c) ALWAYS pay more than the minimum payment, and d) once you pay it off, KEEP it for a while and put the money you WERE sending to the bank into a savings account.  That way when you decide to trade it in, you have cash PLUS your trade-in value. Let’s say you have a car that’s worth about $6k when you’ve paid it off.  If you save $300/month for two years, you’ve got $7200 in CASH plus about $5000 in trade to shop with.  You can buy a very nice car for $12,000—and since you’re paying cash, you can haggle with the dealers for a better deal.  Also—shop on Craiglist or the classifieds.  You can get more car for your money if you buy from an individual (example—my $9700 car would have been closer to $12,000 from a dealer). It might be a little more hassle (having to sell your own car outright first), but it’s really worth it in the end.
5. We pay off our credit card balance each month.  This is where we’re not “true” Dave Ramsey devotees, since Dave is anti-credit cards altogether.  But we both have cards that earn airline miles, so we use them as our primary card instead of a debit card (which is how we’re able to take multiple vacations each year and only pay a few bucks for airfare).  Our credit card payments are set on auto-pay, and they pull the full balance each month so we never pay any interest.  This really scared me at first---back when I hadn’t fully reigned in my “extracurricular spending”.  How will I know there’s enough in the bank???  But actually, that put a little “tic” in the back of my brain, which helped to curb unnecessary spending.  Do I really NEED these shoes?  Do I really HAVE to buy that CD?  Now, our monthly payments stay relatively steady, so the money is always there. Why?
6. We keep money in the bank.  When I was new to the “managing my finances” world, I didn’t trust myself.  When a paycheck came in, I said “okay, I have $1000 here.  Out of that check, I need to pay rent, car loan, cable, and buy groceries.  That gives me $200 left over.” And I would immediately move that $200 “extra” into my savings so I couldn’t spend it.  Now—that was a pretty great theory, most of the time… until a bunch of unexpected expenses popped up.  Then I had to contend with the dreaded “overdraft fees”.  So, then I started keeping my “Emergency Fund” in my primary checking account, so there was always an extra $1,000 on top of my typical expenses in my bank account.  Once I started doing that, I never had another overdraft ever again, but my finances were still staying in check, AND I was still putting the extra money (once the $1,000 was established) into a separate savings account.  If there was an emergency and the $1,000 got depleted, I would move some back from savings into the checking account, but that was the only time money came out of savings.
7. We have a budget for EVERYTHING.  Our bank account comes with access to an online software called Finance Works.  If your bank doesn’t offer something like this, I might suggest switching banks or downloading a program like Mint.com, which is free.  We have our bank accounts, credit cards, and investment accounts linked into it, so records for ALL transactions, whether from a debit card, check, or credit card, all show up there. 
The “Goals” section will have a wide variety of categories:  Auto, Mortgage, Medical, Groceries, Work Related, Cash, Insurance, Utilities, Clothing, Fitness, Dining, Entertainment, etc.  You enter in your spending goals for each category.  Note: If you’ve never made a budget before, Dave Ramsey has a nice online budget-building tool so you can enter in your income and your goals & it will tell you how much you have left.
From inside the software, you can categorize every transaction—and even split transactions if they fall into multiple categories (say, if you get an oil change at Wal-Mart & do your grocery shopping while you’re waiting, and then pay for everything all at the same time—you can split out the cost of the oil change into your “Automotive” budget and put the rest under “Groceries”.  Or if you get Cash back while you’re shopping—because yes, we have a “Cash” budget too.)

Screen shot of categorizing transactions.

After categorizing, you can go to the “Goals” section & see how you’re doing in each category.

Screenshot of the budget tracking section.

Using this tool, we can sit down at the end of the month and see how we’re doing.  Like this month, looks like we dined out a bit more than usual—which could be related to us coming in way under budget for groceries.  We can also see if our goals are realistic--if you see a budget get blown several months in a row, you probably need to re-evaluate: do I need to curb my spending in this category, or is the number in my budget unrealistic?  Likewise, if you see that a category never gets fully spent, you can reduce your goal and move the excess somewhere else—like savings!  Recently I had to adjust our Medical spending category, because one of the medications we were paying for is now free under the new Health Care Reform Bill.  So that budget doesn’t need to account for that amount anymore. 

And yes—FinanceWorks does let you set up mobile alerts, so it can send you a notification if you’re getting close to (or go over) your budget for a particular category.

And if you are BRAND new to budgeting, I actually do recommend Dave Ramsey’s cash budget Envelope System.  I used it when I was first reigning myself in and it totally worked.  Once you feel like you have a good grasp on your budget for each category, you can move back to using debit cards, so long as you still REGULARLY track your budgets in a software system.  I’m also a fan of Suze Orman, who recommends that during your first month of trying to develop a budget, you keep EVERY receipt you get in a box, and then sort through the receipts at the end of the month so you can tangibly see where your money went, since we all tend to get ‘spending amnesia’.

8. We use coupons & Price Matching to save on groceries.  I’ve already discussed this in detail over on this post, so I won’t go into it here, but seriously, it helps.  We save about 30% on our grocery bill by doing that.

9. We live modestly.  Maybe that goes without saying, but I’ll say it anyway.  We don’t go out clubbing every night.  We typically go out on Wednesday nights for trivia (& have a couple of whatever’s on special), have a Date Night on Friday (which can range from dinner & a movie, to bowling, or sometimes ends up just being a night in with pizza, Redbox, & a bottle of wine), and then usually do something fun on the weekend, whether it be going out with friends, catching a local baseball game, canoeing, or camping.  But we rarely go out Friday, Saturday, AND Sunday…partially because we like to have at least one day to be lazy around the house.  We try not to eat out more than once a week, and when we do, we almost ALWAYS use a Groupon/Living Social type coupon (and we still get to try new places all the time because the Springfield area has over 1,000 restaurants).

When it comes to movies, we usually wait until things come out on Redbox, or go to see them at the second-run theater, which charges $3.50/ticket rather than $10.  If there is something we want to see right away, the Hubs can usually find a discount code or get us some free movie bucks through Fandango (or we use gift cards).  (And we TOTES sneak in our own snacks instead of paying theater prices.  Shhhhh…)

When it comes to clothes…we may officially be classified as tightwads.  According to this article, the average American household spends about 3-5% of their income on clothing.  I’m guessing this is probably skewed by families that have kids who are constantly outgrowing their gear.  But as far as we go… well, I discussed it in my 2013 Fashion Challenge post, but last year I spent all of about $145 on clothes.  That’s less than 0.3% of my income.  This year it will be a little more than that, but still not even 1% of my income.  I usually only go shopping when I need to replace something—though I do still love to go & browse (Marshalls, TJ Maxx & Ross are all in the same shopping plaza near our business—it’s like Heaven!).  But it’s very hard for me to purchase something unless it is INTRINSICALLY DIFFERENT from something I already own.  I may fall in love with a pair of purple ballet flats…but unless they’re on a crazy-cheap sale & really comfy, I can’t say yes to that because I already OWN a pair of purple flats. (For the record—if they ARE on crazy-cheap sale, I will TOTES buy them, and if I like them better, I’ll donate my old purple flats to Goodwill…because hey: tax deduction.)

Sorry cutie…I’ll just have to wait until you’re on sale.

We rarely buy music albums—if I like a song, I keep it on a list in my phone (My Tags in Shazam) and then the next time Amazon does an mp3 credit giveaway (or I get a gift card from someone), I’ll buy some songs off my list.  If we buy a DVD or video game, we typically re-sell it on Ebay when we’re done with it.

We also really try not to be wasteful.  Many nights our meals are heavily influenced by “what is about to go bad in the fridge?”  This makes for some pretty offbeat combinations sometimes, but hey—sustenance is sustenance.  Sure, I may not always “feel” like eating whatever it is…but our bottom line is more important than cravings from my belly (which ALWAYS wants pizza). 

Honestly, I think these behaviors are influenced by our growing up “poor”.  I talk about it a little bit above, but please don’t think I had a bad childhood, by any means.  It’s not like, as a kid, I even KNEW that we didn’t have a lot of money.  I never thought in those terms. I don’t ever remember not having enough to eat or feeling “deprived”.  I grew up with a tight-knit extended family and loved playing with my cousins more than anything—which is probably why I still value a good BBQ & Board Games Night more than going out on the town with friends.  I totes had an old-school Nintendo (8-bit) and eventually a Game Boy (black & white, of course)… but we picked up used games at the local flea market or thrift store for $5 bucks instead of paying $30 for brand new.  My parents made me use my allowance (a reasonable $5/week for doing my chores) to buy things that I wanted, so had an understanding of the value of money (and saving up for big things) from a young age.

10. We think about the bigger picture.  We LOVE to travel. I mean, love it.  We’re like: God, each other, then American Airlines. (Just kidding, family…kind of.)  So for us, when we look at the price of things, we compare them to vacations.  When I wrote about going all-organic and thought about the extra $3200/year it would cost us, my first thought was, “my gosh…that’s a week in Europe!”  Saving $60 on something equates to a hotel room somewhere, or a tank of gas (about what it takes for us to travel to St. Louis or Kansas City for the weekend).  $200 equates to the amount we would spend per person on our yearly trip to the Gulf.  By keeping those goals in mind, we are less likely to splurge on unnecessary things, because they essentially use up our travel money. 

Find your thing that you love, and think in those terms. If you really want a new car, think of every dollar you save as going toward that purchase.  If you have always wanted a pair of Christian Louboutin shoes, or a Tag Heuer watch, or a trip to Italy, or a week at culinary school…just use whatever motivates you.  Develop a “unit” for that thing (“$20?  That’s one of the tiny diamonds in my dream Tag watch!”  or “$125…nope, that would cover the cost of my knife set for culinary boot camp.”)  If you stop living in the moment all the time, you stop SPENDING in the moment too.  What is going to be more rewarding in the long run…that super-cute but too pricey tank top that will probably go out of style next year, or the satisfaction of finally having the money to sit on a veranda in Tuscany while sipping a glass of brunello made by the vineyard next door?  Which will you remember longer?

Standing on top of the Acropolis: better than a new tank top any day. PS—I actually AM wearing a top in this photo, just FYI.

Clean Eating on a Budget: Can it be done?

There’s a lot of hype these days about clean/paleo/organic diets.  I don’t mean “hype” in the typical negative connotations, just that it’s a very popular topic in today’s society.  We’ve all seen the swings of diet crazes that go on throughout our lives… I mean, anyone else out there remember when pasta was considered really healthy because carbs were good for you? 

Sweet, sweet sketti. I miss those days.

Last year, a friend’s family member was suffering from cancer.  He visited with a Doctor Hoover who is a proponent of the alkaline-foods movement and started Dr. Hoover’s diet.  This year, the family member passed away—however, over the last year a vast improvement was seen in his quality of life, and it did extend the life expectancy that his oncologist had given him.  Therefore, my friend is now moving toward the alkaline diet and organic foods as well.  She recently went to our local health food market and spent over $500 on food items… I should point out that she & her husband have four kids.  So that’s a 6-person family on an organic diet.  That’s not cheap. Oh…and said friend is a stay at home mom, so they’re doing this on one income.  Ouch.

The Hubs & I don’t typically buy organic foods, because we’re kind of cheapskates.  However, I see the value in moving toward that route.  So I wanted to do some research and see what our typical shopping list would look like if we went all-organic.  And the answer….kind of terrified me.

I made a list of about 40 staples that we always have in our house, and our typical price points for those items.  Now—bear in mind, we almost NEVER buy something at full price.  When it goes on sale, we stock up, or we buy generics.  So these are our “buy” price points—not necessarily the typical regular prices for these items.  But, to be fair, I also reviewed our sale ads for the last few weeks and used the sale prices for any of the organic items on this list as well.

As you can see, if we decided to move to an all-organic diet, our average bill would increase by almost 150% percent!!!  Our monthly grocery budget for a two-person household is $200; therefore, over the course of the year we would be spending about $1600 more PER PERSON on food.  For a 4 person family, that would be an extra $6,400 per year.  I don’t know about you, but we don’t really have an extra $3200 in our annual budget to dedicate exclusively to food.

So, the more important question is:  which items on this list are the MOST IMPORTANT to buy organic?  You may or may not have the time to track down the answer to that question for everything on your grocery list.  But I, the food nerd, have done it for you—at least for the above 39 foods.

 

Cheese/Dairy/Beef/Butter/Sour Cream:  This probably depends on how much of these products you eat.  But dairy/beef products are hot topic in the food world.  There’s concerns over rBST hormones (which, most studies show don’t transfer into food products in significant enough levels to be harmful to humans) but more so the antibiotics that are fed to cows, which can transfer into milk and beef and cause us to build up a resistance to antibiotics.  Answer: Splurge on the organic cheese if your family eats a fair amount of it. If you want a better butter, Kerrygold Irish butter gets rave reviews; it comes from grass-fed cows and it’s relatively cost-effective at places like Sams & Costco ($4.50/lb)---or, if that’s still too steep for those “Country Crock-ers” out there (hey…me too), did you know you can often replace butter/oil in recipes with avocado or Greek yogurt?  WAY cheaper.  If you’re looking for a cheaper option than organic milk, try soy or almond milk!  They’re actually a good middle ground between the two price points ($4/gallon, rather than the $6 for organic).  Sour cream…meh.  It doesn’t likely represent a large enough portion of your diet, so go ahead & get regular (but get the light version to save calories & fat).  As for beef:  hormones & antibiotics tend to concentrate in the fat of animals rather than the muscle, so just opt to buy the 90-95% lean beef ($3.89/lb), rather than splurging for organic (closer to $10/lb) if you can’t afford it.  Or, find a local natural meat provider like Crooked Creek Beef and offer to split a side of beef with another family to save on costs.

Produce:  If you peel it or don’t eat the outside of it, you don’t need to buy it organic.  The pesticides concentrate on the outside of the item; yes, some pesticides can be taken up into the plant while growing, but it’s significantly less than what’s on the outside.  You should still give these a good washing when you bring them home so there isn’t transfer from your hands while peeling.  That being said, every year the Environmental Working Group tests produce at stores for pesticide concentrations, and releases their “Clean 15” and “Dirty Dozen” food lists.  On the Dirty Dozen? Strawberries, bell peppers, leafy greens, tomatoes, celery, apples, grapes, etc.  Clean?  Corn, onions, watermelon, avocadoes, pineapples, etc.  Like I said—things you can peel.  Also—mushrooms are on the Clean list.  Makes sense…wouldn’t want to use a fungicide on a fungus, now would you? :)  Answer: For your organic options, buy what’s on sale—and stock up if it’s something you can freeze.  Also, check out the prices at your local farmer’s markets.   But as far as onions, corn, avocadoes, bananas, & cucumbers (wash & peel them), just buy the regular ones.  Oh, and on baby carrots?  I find that the price difference isn’t that huge on organic vs. regular, so just splurge on the organic.  And unfortunately, white potatoes are on the Dirty Dozen.  But a simple fix?  Buy sweet potatoes---these are on the Clean list. Plus they’re better for you anyway.  Oh, and when it comes to frozen veggies, same rules apply—if it’s something that has been hulled before it was frozen (corn, peas), you’re probably fine buying the regular version.  If you’re worried about GMO corn, buy local, and it’s far less likely to have been treated, and is probably cheaper too.

Canned goods:  Some people are anti-cans altogether.  Or they say “do your own canning with mason jars!”  Yeah…because we alllllll have time for that.  If you’re like me and don’t have time to play Aunt Bea, you occasionally need canned goods.  Answer: for veggies, same rules apply as above—if it’s been hulled (beans, peas, corn), buy regular.  If it’s not (green beans, tomatoes), buy organic.  If you’re vegetarian, you might want to get your beans organic as well, since they probably represent a larger portion of your overall diet.  Luckily stores are pretty good about running sales—organic canned beans are only $1 this week at our local Dillons.  As far as canned soups and pastas…I find that the overall quality and taste is better in the organic versions, so it’s best to splurge.  The veggies are crisper and there’s usually less sodium, too.  Think of it this way—a can of soup usually represents a meal by itself, right?  Spending $2.50 on a can of soup is still cheaper than any fast food value meal out there, and it’ll be way better for your waistline.

Cereal/Granola:  Organic cereal & snack bars are ridonkulous.  I’ll just go ahead & say that.  Plus…it’s almost ALWAYS some form of granola.  Which gets boring (and you can make it cheaper yourself).  Answer: Focus more on the list of ingredients.  If it’s about 5-6 items long and you can easily read all the words, you’ve hit the jackpot.  I recently founds some tasty Nature’s Path shredded wheat bites at Big Lots for $2.50 for a HUGE bag.  Kashi typically keeps their ingredient list short too, and they run coupons almost all the time.

Chicken/Eggs:  *Gulp*  We eat a LOT of chicken & eggs in our house, and I’ll be honest…I’ve never bought organic.  Not when regular chicken pieces seem to be on sale almost every week for 99 cents.  But if you’re diligent, you CAN find good deals on organic chicken now & then.  Answer: Smart Chicken is widely available in supermarkets. (Note: Regular Smart Chicken is not “certified organic”, but their website states that all their chickens are “raised without animal byproducts, antibiotics, or hormones”)  Around here it’s regularly priced at $5.49/lb, but sometimes goes on sale for $3.99, and since they’re a bigger company, they run coupons every so often.  If you time it right, you could potentially get your Smart Chicken as cheap as $2.71/lb!!!  As far as eggs go, Eggland’s Best is probably your best bet.  They’re also not “certified organic”, but their chickens get feed that “contains no added hormones, antibiotics or steroids, and no animal by-products, recycled or processed foods”.  I’ve seen them on sale for about $2.33/dozen (compared to $4/dozen or higher for organic).

Coffee:  Coffee beans are pretty heavily doused with pesticides, and even though a lot of that may come off during the roasting process, you just never know.  Thankfully, many organic coffee options are the same prices as their non-organic alternatives.  Answer:  Buy organic if you can—especially if it’s the same price.  At Sam’s/WalMart, I can get organic coffee K-cups for the same price as the regular stuff.  However, I do still occasionally buy non-organic…because Caribou Coffee is my fave and they don’t have an organic K-cup option. Psstt…you can buy K-cups in bulk at Sam’s for about 50 cents a cup.

Yogurt:  I love Chobani…and most “clean eating” sources consider Chobani to be a good option, since they use dairy from non-rBST treated cows.  And I can get coupons for Chobani.  But if you simply MUST have certified organic, check out Stonyfield Farm.  They run coupons & sales as well and make a pretty tasty product.

Ice Cream:  Organic ice cream is about twice the price of regular.  That seems silly to me. Answer:  Go even cheaper and make your own, using frozen fruit, a splash of vanilla, and a little cream (optional—without the cream, its a sorbet).  My favorite version is with bananas, and some chocolate chips mixed in.  YUM. And it takes all of about 5 minutes to make.

Lunch Meat:  Okay…I had NO idea what organic lunch meat costs because I had never SEEN it before. It’s just NOT mass-marketed; I had to go to the health food store.  Probably because of the crazy price.  We typically pay about $2.50/lb for Oscar Meyer on sale.  Organic lunch meat is about $10/lb!!!!  That’s four times as much!!!   Answer: It really depends on how often you eat lunch meat.  If it’s once or twice a week, then get the regular stuff, by all means.  But if you’re packing lunches for kiddos every day, you probably don’t want to send them to school with that stuff.  In that case, opt for shredded chicken.  If you stock up on the Smart Chicken, you can roast it & then slice or shred it & use that on sammies instead.  Even NOT on sale, $5.49/lb is better than $10.

Bacon:  This was another one that floored me.  We buy bacon on sale, typically when it hits $1.99 or lower (easiest to do when they run BOGO specials).  Organic bacon is $11/lb.  ELEVEN DOLLARS??? *head desk*  Answer:  I’m sorry, but I would GIVE UP bacon before paying $11/lb for it.  If bacon represents a relatively low portion of your overall diet (i.e., you eat it a couple times/week)---which it probably should because we ALL know bacon is bad for us-- just get the regular stuff.  And remember that the hormones & antibiotics concentrate in the fat of animals, so buy leaner cuts, use a grease trap tray, and/or blot the bacon before eating it to lower your risk without breaking the bank.

Pasta Sauce/Salsa:  Remember that tomatoes are on the Dirty Dozen, and pesticides don’t necessarily “cook out”.  Answer:  Go organic, or make it yourself with organic tomatoes (or even grow your own ‘maters & cut out the middle man!)  Sam’s sells an organic pasta sauce for only $2.22/jar (granted, you have to buy it in a three pack, but if you love pasta like we do, that’s not an issue).

Peanut Butter:  This one’s a little controversial, but it shouldn’t be.  Peanuts are hulled before they go into the process.  Most of the pesticides are concentrated on the hulls.  Answer: Meet in the middle, and buy the “natural” versions.  These are the ones with the short ingredient list and use natural sweeteners like honey or cane sugar instead of HFCS.  And their price point is much more reasonable ($3/jar vs. $6). (PS—if you’re confused on the differences between “organic” and “natural”, here’s a good article.)

Salad Dressing:  This one is entirely up to you.  Most of the things that go into a salad dressing (oil, vinegar, spices) usually aren’t high risk, and it doesn’t represent a large portion of your diet (2 tbsp/day, maybe?)  Just buy what you like.  It’s more important that the items IN your salad are pesticide-free.  But use the “simpler is better” rule of thumb and look for lower ingredient counts and fewer 6-syllable chemically sounding words. (Note: I’m a wee bit of a hypocrite, because THIS is my favorite dressing on the planet, and there’s a few preservatives in there, and HCFS…but again, I only eat a few salads a week, so it’s not a big portion of my diet.)

Sausage:  Meats are tough ones.  I usually buy smoked sausage when it’s on sale for about $1.50-2.50.  The cheapest organic sausage I could find was $7.99/lb.  So here’s a time where it’s good to remember that bit about the hormones & antibiotics concentrating in the animal fat.  Answer:  Do some Nutrifacts comparing and find a leaner sausage option.  Chicken sausage usually wins out, and I can usually find it for about $3.99/lb.

Shrimp:  I usually pay about $4.99/lb….organic shrimp are $11.99/lb.  OUCH.  Answer:  Look for Gulf-caught skrimps.  You’re buying local and they’re wild caught—which means they probably haven’t been treated. Regular price on those is typically about $7.99/lb and the stores run sales fairly often.  It’s a good compromise.

Tea:  Tea leaves are pretty notorious for having been treated with pesticides…in fact, Celestial Seasonings and Teavana both got into some big trouble about this a while back.  It’s best to go organic on these. Answer:  If you have a Sam’s card, you can get 100 bags of organic tea for about $8, in comparison to $5 for regular tea.

Tortilla Chips:  Corn is on the Clean List, but a lot of people still give corn flack because of the GMO issue.   In our house, we LOVE us some tortilla chips & salsa, and Mama Lupe’s are 99 cents a bag.  Answer:  I’m sticking with Mama Lupe’s, again because it represents such a small portion of our typical diet.  We munch on chips a couple times a week.  If you have them more frequently, then you may want to spring for organic or non-GMO chips, or go for a different type of regular chip, like pita, Triscuit, etc. As always—watch for sales.

Whole Wheat Bread:  When it comes to bread, the ingredient list is WAY more important than whether it’s organic or not.  Many organic breads still have a lot of sugar, oils & refined flours.  Answer: Look for brands featuring a short ingredient list with no added sugar. Whole-wheat, rice, spelt and millet breads all offer fiber and a rich mix of vitamins and minerals, thanks to the whole grains in each slice.  And buy it from a discount bread store.  We have a Sara Lee store here in town, and they keep loaves that are getting close to their expiration date up front for about $0.99-$1.50 a loaf.  Stock up & put a couple loaves in the freezer.

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NOW…*drumroll* What does that grocery bill go to if we follow these rules?  ANSWER:  About $102, which is only a THIRTY-FIVE percent increase.  For our two-person budget, that ends up being about $70 more per month, adding up to an extra $840/year, or $420/person.  WAYYYYY better than $1600/person, amiright?

Thanks for reading, and I hope someone out there finds this helpful!!!