Save Money

Upgrading Inexpensive Food In to Gourmet Meal: Ramen Noodle Hacks

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As we are doing no spend month challenge, I am looking for ways to eat cheaply without losing quality of food and health. Many of the cheap food will include rice, beans, and also instant ramen noodles. Eating while saving money, does not have be dull and boring, otherwise we will not continue to save or eat healthy food. While, I have tried some ramen noodle hacks successfully and some not so successfully in kitchen, here are some of them that I have tried successfully by myself or learned from other creative cooks. Hope you enjoy it.

Ramen Noodles History:

Instant noodle were first marketed in Taiwan, which was under Japanese regime in late 1950s.In early 1970’s Japanese Company called Nissin introduced “cup Noodles”, which you can still buy at grocery store, which comes in waterproof Styrofoam cup, and all one has to add is boiled or warm water for noodles to be cooked and ready to eat in no time.

Instant noodle is one of the major inexpensive food, eaten in many countries, specially popular with not so rich, college students who can eat cheap and quickly make these noodles for their busy college life. There has been said, that about 95 billion people in world eat some type of instant noodles. Top Noodle consuming countries are China, Indonesia, Japan, and south Koreans along with many South Asian Countries such as India too.

Instant noodle have been criticized for low protein, vitamins and fiber while being rich in carbohydrates. One can add fibrous veggies with vitamins to make it much rich and healthy in nutrients.

Maggie Noodle History:

Maggi noodles is a brand of instant noodles manufactured by Nestlé and popular in India, Pakistan, Nepal, Malaysia, South Africa, Brazil and Australia along with a few more countries. Ramen has started new noodles made out of “atta” to use non-refined flour in making these noodles for new health conscious people. In India, they are advertised as a quick snacks, making it under 2 minutes making easier of busy moms to cook snack or mini meals for kids. Maggie noodles comes in many vegetarian and non vegetarian flavors such as curry, daal sambhar, atta, tomato, masala and more. One can buy these Maggie noodles in USA and Canada in Indian or Asian Stores.

As a Vegetarian and Indian we do lot of rice and daal (lentils) and beans along with fresh veggies stews.  While Ramen noodle is not get award for being health food, it is inexpensive, quick and one can make it healthy by adding veggies and nuts in it. Here are some Ramen Noodle hacks.

Top Instant Ramen Noodle Hacks:

Since I am vegetarian, I am sharing vegetarian hacks that I know and have used successfully in kitchen. Ramen Noodles have come a long way in US and I have eaten a lot during my college years. Now as a parent, my taste have changed and I make ramen noodles with different way to make more fun gourmet version will feel like grown up.

Adding Veggies:

noodlesvegetable

Image source: Pax21

Adding, red onions, green spinach, Thinly sliced cabbage, lettuce, Scallion, will do wonder. Once I put home grown potato because my son wanted to try it, and it worked out so well.

I have tried also broccoli, carrots, cauliflower, sweet peas, corn, and other veggies in the noodle. Some vegetable may need to be pre-cooked before as instant noodle cooks quicker.

One can add frozen or boiled veggies inside the Ramen noodle too.

Add Sauces and Condiments

In addition to vegetables, I like to use my own spices, sauce or condiment with Ramen noodle. You can try curry power, ginger, garlic paste, soya sauce, chili sauce, miso paste, bean paste (from Chinese or Japanese store), African Harrisa paste, Garam Masala and Emli sauce  (Indian Store)

Other Cooking Suggestions:

  • I have made Vegetarian Pad Thai with Ramen Noodle instead of Thin Rice noodle and while it looks different, it taste wonderful.
  • Make Chinese sweet and sour chow mien or low-mien with Ramen noodle. You can use pineapple chucks or pineapple for sweet ingredient.
  • Make Spaghetti with sauce and wheat balls with Ramen Noodles.
  • Make a cheesy, noodle with cheese and tomato sauce.
  • Instead of Mac and Cheese with Macroni Pasta, Make Ramen and cheese for kids.
  • Make Ramen Veggie Primevera, Ramen Fettuccine, or Ramen with extra virgin olive oil and garlic to make simple pasta dish with instant noodles.
  •  If you make vegetarian Shepard pie, make it with Ramen noodle instead.
  • I have also make Green spinach salad with walnuts, and broken pieces of ramen noodles (extra crunchiness) with red wine vinaigrette dressing.
  •  You can make Instant noodle Upma, and Instant Noodle Cutlet recipes. For those who want to know how to make cutlet see here Noodle cutlet. I will have to make Ramen Upma recipe as below;

Ramen Noodle Upma:

Ingredients:

Ramen Noodle,

Cashew nuts,

1 chopped red onion,

peanut oil 2 table spoon,

2 small red potatoes,

1 yellow bell pepper,

1 cup frozen or fresh peas

3 Curry Leaves

1 Tsp Mustard seeds, Urud Daal (Optional)

Lemon Juice

1/2 cup chopped Cilantro

If you do not use Instant noodle spice, add salt, black pepper to taste.

Maggie Noodle (2 packs) or any instant noodles such as Ramen

Recipe for Maggie Upma:

Heat Pan on low to medium heat. Add oil. When oil is heated add curry leaves, mustard and urad daal.

After mustard seeds splutters and get red, add chopped cashews and stir it for 2 minutes until brown. Add chopped red onion, yellow bell pepper, peas, red potatoes. Chopped all small to cook quicker as in stir fried veggies or you can boil veggies prior to it and add it with noodle.

Once veggies are cooked and tender, add ramen noodle (I usually break it in smaller pieces) and add water, spices as needed. Most instant noodle should be cooked in 2-5 minutes. Add lemon juice and thinly chopped cilantro for garnish and enjoy while it is hot.

Final Thoughts:

You can use Ramen noodle in any place you would pasta, rice or Chinese/Japanese noodle to make a new recipe instantly that makes it grown up gourmet meals in minute. Ramen noodle can be used to make cheesy pasta dish, salad, soup, or simple dry no sauce meal such as chow mien. How do you cook Ramen Noodle?

Check out: Vegetarian Thanksgiving Recipes

No Spend Month Challenge: Update 2 and Savings Tips

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This month I am doing an No Spend Month challenge, where our family of 4 will try to fit budget under 0 for the 31 days for daily expenses.

To see Past update click on links below:

No Month Spend Challenge

No Month Spend Challenge: Update 1

Our family usually lives pretty much every month like this, living on less and spending less but this month I am making a public account of our expenses. Only difference is this month I have to make sure and remind myself to stay under budget to make sure, as some other months, some unexpected expenses and emergency situations makes our expenditure higher. For example, we had to replace water heater last month and so on. Sometimes there might be an other situation such as health and family situation that might cause to spend more than our budget.

Last week, we spend about $80 or so, on gas, and groceries for home, everything we needed. We did NOT pre-fill gas in cars or stock up on groceries to make it easy.

This time we did much better, we spent total of $24.65 for following items, food, sand toys and 2 used books.

Week 1 Spending: $80.38

Week 2 Spending: $24.65

Total for Jul1-July10th =$105. 03

That leave us about $195 (little less) for remainder of the month.

One of the major expenses that many of us have is eating (groceries, eating out) and gas for cars. Here are a few ways to save money for those who want to save. There are a few people who have plenty, than you can spend and save you like.

Ways to save money in Gas

1. Drive less

2. Carpool with others

3. Combine errands together

4. Walk to nearby places, instead of driving

5. Fill gas at costco or cheaper gas station

6. Fill gas in morning

Ways to Save Money Buying Groceries

1. Check your pantry, stocks before going shopping

2. Never shop hungry

3. Use coupons (double or matching coupons will even help better)

4. Make a list before you go and stick to the grocery list

5. Buy generic brands

6. Watch cash register for any possible price mistakes (it happens)

7. Use in store coupons with manufacture coupons (see #3)

8. Do not buy non grocery items at grocery store.

How do you save money in Groceries? Are you saving money towards retirement, emergency?

No Spend Month Challenge: July 2011- Update 1

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I am doing No Spend Month Challenge for Month of July or I should say an No Spend Month Experience as I have no idea how it is going to go. Last year I have done this challenge and I was fun challenge but it was not easy.

We are living in Northern California, where many things have gone up in prices, such as rice, milk, gas prices and all. Kids are one year older, while Zenguy has a project, I still do not make money. I was making little money (like few bucks on book sales via amazon, that is gone now, thanks to new California Tax law and amazon’s decision).

Anyways, I am up for challenge; Here it is in nut shell;

4 People

31 days

$300.00

If you want to see what is included in budget and what is not and to see previous year’s recap, you can see here by clicking: No Spend Month Challenge 2011.

Spending Update: (July 1- July 4th)

Remember, we did not stock up on any milk, groceries or gas.

We also had to replace water heater but the work was started in end of June, so it will be not part of July Budget. Otherwise, we would have busted our budget.

Trader Joe’s: 24.29

Gas for Hybrid car: $37.23

Vegetables, Fruits: $18.86

Total Spent: $80.38

This does not look great, as we spent almost 1/3 of budget in 4 days, without going out in any trip. I guess I have to be careful for next 27 days.

This challenge is much more then about saving money, it is about using up what we already have in fridge, in pantry. It is about finding creative ways to live and have fun without breaking wallet.

There are still lot of people hurting in bad economy and they are forced to live in “no spend month”, every month. I feel still lucky to cut budget because I choose to and still help others as helping others, charity and educational stuff is not going to be part of $300.00 budget.

How are you saving money this month?

 

Zengirl

Image source: diaryofasmartchick.com

No Spend Month Challenge: July 2011

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Last July, I did No Spend Month Experiment, and I am planning to on doing it again this year, hope you can join me in my adventure. We have reduced our wants and simplified our life a little but there is always a possibility of meeting our budget or not.

I will post my spending for the week, every Monday sometimes to calculate and write up a post about it.

What is No Spend Month Challenge?

Family: 4 people: Me, Zenguy, 6 Year Old R, and 2 Year old P

Budget for July: We can only spend $300 whole month

What is Included in $300.00 Budget:

  • Groceries
  • Eating out
  • Entertaining Guests and Friends
  • Clothing
  • Gas for cars
  • Any entertainment such as books, movies, dvds, museum etc
  • Household cleaning and toiletry items
  • Household repairs
  • Credit card bills
  • Any want items such as books, toys, snacks, magazines, gadgets
  • Gardening supply (if any)
  • Any Household items

What is not included in $300 budget?

  • Rent/Mortgage
  • Savings and investment (if any)
  • Health and doctor’s visit and medicines
  • Gifts, Charities (we do not want to skimp on it too much)
  • Job related expenses
  • Any unforeseen life emergency situation
  • Utility bills
  • Kids education related expenses
  • Any gifts card and cash gifts from family or friends
  • If we sell any household items on craigslist, it can be used for expense if needed.

No Spend Month Challenge Plan:

  • I have no set plan. Either I have become too lazy or too comfortable that I am going to take one step at the time.
  • No pre flling of gas in cars
  • No buying groceries from June budget

No Spend Month 2010 Challenge Recap:

If you want to check out the last year’s experience, see below;

No Spend Moth Challenge: Introduction $0

No Spend Month Challenge: Update 1 Money Spent 1st week: $104.73

No Spend Month Challenge: Update 2 Money Spent 2nd week: $33.72

No Spend Month Challenge: Update 3 Money spent 3rd week: $97.15

No Spend Month Challenge: Update 4 Money spent4th week: $18.50

No Spend Month Challenge: Take Away: Total Money Spent: $299.66

Would you like to Join the Challenge?

In past, I know many people who have done no spend month challenge in past such as Rachel, Sharon, Kait and Carla. I am not sure who else other than myself are going to do No spend month challenge. You are more than welcome to join and let me know, so I can add it to the post and more the merrier! Join in.

See Updates and Progress here:

No Spend Month Challenge Update 1

No Spend Month Challenge Update 2

No Spend Month Challenge Update 3

No Spend Month Challenge Update 4

No Spend Month challenge Take away (2011)

Zengirl

Easy Ways to Save Money For Everyday Expenses

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Life has taught me many things. Last few months have been busy with various things going on in my life. Dust still has to settle, but we must keep trying to bring our life back in to balance slowly as possible. I wrote about 6 key area of balance for everyone’s life before. See Life Balance: 6 Key Area for Life Balance . They are;

Life Balance:

1. Family
2. Social
3. Knowledge/Learning
4. Finance
5. Health
6. Religious/Spiritual

Money is not certainly most important thing however, managing money right ways can bring much more peace in your life, compared to when spending is out of control. Let’s face it, sometimes we have no choice but to be in debt, such as health or hospitalization can be expensive, even when one has a health insurance. Losing a job, having kids and other unforeseen circumstances can bring many money woes.

There are two ways to have extra money:

1. Spend less then you earn: By staying in budget can be boring sometimes but it sure helps when you have a financial goal in mind such as paying off debt or saving for house.
2. Earn more : This is easier said then done though. Some people work at multiple part time jobs to increase income, some consultant work the same but charge more to earn more. Some people dabble in stock market and other income earning opportunities. Check out :  Easy Ways to Earn More Money for more ideas.

Out of these 2 ways to have extra monies, easiest ways to save money is to cut down on your un-necessary expenses; and find ways to make more money. This post, I will share a few ways to save money and go green.

How to Save Money in Everyday Expenses:

Food/groceries:

1. Buy generic brand.
2. Limit pre-packaged and frozen meals. Making meal from scratch will be cheaper and lot healthier.
3. Use coupon when buying brand name product. Just do search for coupon for “item” and most likely you will find something. Sunday newspaper are good source for coupons.
4. Look for “almost” expired bakery goods to cheap bread.
5. Buy in season fruits/vegetables (when cheap and fresh) and cut and freeze of later use.
6. Buy most vegetables from ethnic store, as there it tends to be cheaper, buy Chinese noodles from Ranch 99, and Mexican items from Mexican stores to get best price.
7. Buy Can-food, when on sale, stock up.
8. Eat little bit before shopping to avoid impulse food buying.
9. Set our budget and make a list before shopping to stay focused on “need items”.
10. Use up what you have, instead of buying new food item.
11. Write down grocery list and go only once a week shopping.
12. Do comparison shop to see where items are cheaper to buy from there.
13. Buy in Bulk staple items that will not go bad with time such as lentil or rice.
14. Cook food from scratch as much possible.
15. Eat in season fruits and vegetables.
16. Eat Local and support you local farmer’s market.
17. Garden for veggies at home in your backyard or container gardening in apartment.

Eating out:

1. Do not eat out often. If you do, share a large entree with someone or eat 2 appetizers.
2. Avoid ordering alcoholic drinks whenever possible.
3. Order glass of water instead of sodas, which is healthier and cheaper.
4. You can still eat cheap without going through fast food, if you eat at local mom and pops and use coupons.
5. Eat out during Lunch time instead of dinner time, as generally same item is cheaper at Lunch time.
6. Join Frequent diner club for discounts and coupons in email.
7. Look for coupon in Sunday Newspaper, Pennysaver ads, online for deals.
8. Buy entertainment book for your local area. It will have not only coupon for eating out, but also for movies, rental car, kids entertainment and more. They generally cost, $10-$15 per year.
9. Try restaurants have free appetizers while you order to stretch your dollar further.
10. Eating near colleges campus is good idea as food tend to be cheaper with students in mind.
11. Some restaurants have birthday person eat free, or have dessert free.
12. Many have 2 for 1 deals and day when you can use them.
13. Many restaurants have “kids eat free” day, when adult is buying. Look at Kids eat free for more ideas.
14. Be vegetarian: Eating vegetarian meals are generally cheaper.
15. Be a mystery shopper, when you get to survey a local restaurant and get reimbursement for one meal.
16. Pick healthy choices such as broiled instead of fried. It will be healthy and bit cheaper as well.
17. Get takeout sometimes, instead of eating out, you can eat-in.
18. Sometimes just go for coffee and dessert instead of full meal.

Baby/Kid items:

1. Most of the advertised items are not needed to buy for baby. All new parent need is car seat and a few essential and lot of love and patience.
2. Little kids grow out of clothes fast, so use hand me down or gently used clothes for babies along with some new clothes.
3. Breastfeed. It is easier once you get started and lot cheaper even if you one buys breast pump. It is lot cheaper than formula for 1 year.
4. Use cloth diapers along with disposables ones for certain times. It is cheaper in long run and lot more environment friendly.
5. Use sling or baby carriers instead of stroller. You will be able to move fast in store without bulky stroller to move about. Have stroller for long hikes and walking.
6. Make baby food at home, simply by steaming the fruit or vegetable and puree it with little water. You can freeze in ice cube container and use as needed.
7. Many things you can do without, but being parent is very personal so make choices according to what you are comfortable with.

Household:

1. We try to see, if we can borrow, rent or go without an item before replacing it.
2. Try to see if you can repair item. If you can repair it yourself from many DIY type of sites and all you have to do is pay for the part.
3. Sometime repair is complex or if you do not have time to do it, call a few handy man and ask for free estimate before buying a new item.
4. If you know you must replace item, start saving up every month for it. It will make it easier on your budget.
5. We find some item/cleaning supply etc from dollar store, it is only $1 each. Everything in dollar store is not a bargain so value compare before you buy it.
5. Try to get multiple car insurance discounts and home insurance from one company to see if that save you bundle. Always comparison shop and call at least 3 companies to get best rates possible.
6. If you have company insurance choose one that works for you. If you are like us, self employed or unemployed, look for high deductible health insurance to get affordable rates for your family.
7. Buy what is minimum required for insurance when money is tight.
8. Forgo or put minimum on retirement fund when your debts are high or income is low.
9. Many creditors such as hospital can installment programs without interests, so ask for it.
10. Choose generic brand of medicines if you must have it as it can be lot cheaper.
11. Do pot luck instead of meeting friends in a restaurant for a meal.
12. Do board games gathering instead of going to play pool in a sport bar.
13. Do movie and dinner at home, instead of watching in theater.
14. Watch movie in DVD at home with subtitles and extra features at home, instead of when it comes out in theater.
15. Do staycation, meaning staying home and do local traveling.
16. If you go out, do couch surfing or stay at family or friends house for a few days (without burdening them).
17. Let go of cable and netflix subscriptions.
18. Same goes for newspaper, magazines and other subscription except what you really care about.
19. Go to museum on free or special discount days.
20. Buy some items used, such as dresser or sofa as long as it is good condition. Local craigslist has many great deals. Also look for free section for sometimes great bargain.
21. Do birthday party at home or at Park, no need for spending $1000 on one party, although we have done it in past.
22. Wear sweater before turning on heater. Open up windows and doors before starting an AC or fan.
23. Shut off lights in room you are not using to save electricity.
24. Use water as you need and turn it off between brushing. Take shower instead of bath to use less water.
25. Use special package deal to combine internet, phone and cellphone for better discount. Shop around for deals, call and ask for it.
26. Always check your bills (credit cards, medical, utility) for any errors and call them to correct it or understand it right away.
27. Keep tab on your checking account balance to not overspend.
28. Good idea to tally your check book every month to make sure everything is current.
29. Use local library for movies, CDs, books (fictional and non-fictional), kids books and entertainment. It is not free, we pay taxes for it so why not use it.
30. Use bike or walk to near by places to go to.
31. Fill up gas in morning according to experts.
32. Buy only what you “needs” and save for “wants” when you have extra monies.

I am sure there is more creative ways people save money when we are buying stuff as well. As long we save money in simple and small ways without feeling deprived, we will be encouraged to do it for loner time. Want to share yours?

No Spend Month Challenge: Update and Take away from the experiment

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Now that August is here, here is a recap of our No Spend Month Challenge with its final update and lessons and take away from this No Spend experiment:

This July we did No Spend Month experiment to see if our family of four, living in Northern California can survive with only 0: For groceries, eating out, cleaning, gardening supply, entertainment (books, movies, etc), Gas for cars, Any repairs, clothing and accessories and other items.

31 days

4 people

$300

To see recap on what is No Spend month and with Monday’s weekly updates on how we did, check out the posts below for more details.

No Spend Moth Challenge: Introduction $0
No Spend Month Challenge: Update 1 Money Spent 1st week: $104.73
No Spend Month Challenge: Update 2 Money Spent 2nd week: $33.72
No Spend Month Challenge: Update 3 Money spent 3rd week: $97.15
No Spend Month Challenge: Update 4 Money spent4th week: $18.50

Last week spending update:

Gas and Groceries only.
Total for last 5 days: $45.56

Here is total breakdown for the whole month to compare where did the money go?

Our Total expenses for the No Spend month Details:

Gas for both cars: $158.79
Groceries: $82.70
Misc: Rest of the budget
Total for the month: $299.66

As you can see, we barely made with 44 cents left over from our $300. Phew!!
Edited to add: We did not pre-stock gas for the cars or groceries prior the the no spend month experiment. Also all expense from cash and little on credit card are included here (even though CC bill be due next month).

Highlights and Analysis of this month:

  1. Gas prices are highest in the nation in Northern California, cheapest unleaded gas price is around $3.20 per gallon here. Except for our long Yosemite drive, we did not drive much and walked. Gas we had to fill in every other week, our normal gas expenses are much higher. This was consciously done.
  2. We had once had guests over for dinner and once we had to bring a potluck meal for 40 people. Our groceries expense is under $100, because we mostly used up our pantry, frozen and canned food supply this month. We still have a few cans and little frozen food left but most of food supply is used up. We were also were able to donate some goods that otherwise would have expired before being used.
  3. We did not eat out except for coffee and snacks once.
  4. We did not spend any money on repairs, clothes, cleaning supply or diaper this month as we used vinegar and cleaning supply from home for it. Zenguy repaired one chair by himself. And we used gift card (from last Xmas) to buy some diapers and we supplemented with cloth diapers for little P.
  5. I did little splurging like buying used books ($1.50) or used high chair ($10, actually needed) as Little P was growing out of his bouncer which we used as a feeding chair till now. Although we did not spend much money this month, we still were able to manage life and have fun.
  6. Both kids have no idea that we were in no spend month last month or had any budget issues. They were happy as usual. Our life style is mostly simplified anyways.
  7. Knowing we did not have money to spend, we stayed out of malls, bookstores, clothing stores and un-necessary grocery trips. We visited library more often and read books and movies from our own collection.
  8. We cleaned up our yard, organized our Gazebo, took out weeds and planted some more plants and flowers in our yard. We went for walking to near by parks, caught up with neighbors, watched movies from our small collection for entertainment.
  9. My breakdown point came around day 25th of this No Spend Month. I was feeling down, blue and bit childish as I wanted freedom to spend and not count everything before we buy stuff. It is like food fasting, which is good for day or few days but if you keep doing it always, it is not good for your health. Money fasting is similar in a way, too long of it might would have created deprivation.
  10. I learned a lot about myself and my family and our strengths and weaknesses. My family always supported me, even though this was my decision, Zenguy also curbed his spending and motivated me when I was bit down last 5 days. I also kept busy with my guest posts and commenting there to keep my mind off from my budget and it worked well.
  11. I also re-learned that we do not need money to be happy, we had a lot of good times during this month as a family. I got to see my creative side to make new meals from left over food. I was able to complete the No Spend Month challenge despite giving up hope during last week.
  12. There are many people who made this happen for me. I could not have done this challenge without support of Zenguy and my kids. I learned this concept of No Spend month, from Rachel of small notebook and I was honored to be mentioned in her post about this challenge  along with others What to eat on beans and rice budget, besides beans and rice . Also I got to know other ladies who were also in same journey and Sharon mentioned my update on her post Diary of No spend Month: day 19 too. Thanks Rachel and Sharon for the shout outs and support.
  13. I am thankful to Betsy Bargain , Vaishali and Ali sharing their money savings tips during this month. And to all my readers despite coming from various background supporting my challenge and commenting on update posts, kept me going.
  14. This challenge was not about winning or losing, this challenge for me was to make a conscious spending decision. I always thought of my self very frugal but this month made me realize I have quite a way to go and things to learn. I am more appreciative of people who live on very little every month, not because of any challenge, but because they have to.
  15. I learned that simplifying life and spending less has enabled me to stay home with both the kids and survive even with zero salary as Zenguy is between projects right now. Money may give us illusion of (temporary) happiness but happiness comes always from within.

These are my take away, analysis and lessons learned for the whole No Spend month Challenge. I am glad I did this challenge openly despite being scared of failing in front of others.

Your turn: What did you think of this challenge? Do you spend money consciously, regardless of how much money you have?

Image: dan / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

No Spend Month Challenge: Update 4

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This is our fourth week of update on No Spend Month Challenge that I am  sharing my spending on Heart and Mind Blog . Now there are 26 days down and 5 more days left to go in this challenge.

In this challenge, we have a budget for $300 for the whole month of July, that includes, groceries, eating out, entertainment, clothing and accessories, books, movies, gas for cars, cleaning supplies, gardening supply, any household items, and any repairs if necessary.

What is not included in this budget is rent/mortgage, utilities, phone bills, medical, insurances, donations/charity money, savings (if any) for retirement or emergency fund. We are family of 4, living in northern California where gas and groceries prices can be high.

If you would like to know more about it, check out my previous update No Spend Month challenge : Update 3

Where we are started last week:

We have spent $235.60 already from total of $300 budget. Can we make it?

Our saving budget strategies

  1. Use food from our pantry, freezer first: We have been doing this, week before this one, I cook a potluck meal for 40 peoples from our food storage. This goes to show, we had too much food in our pantry.
  2. Use up canned food supply : We have been doing this quite well on.
  3. Use dried beans and rice staples : As an Indians we do tend to eat lot of rice and wheat based meals so having dried staple to help us is a great idea.
  4. Cook leftover in to another delicious meal: I learned this from my grandmother and my mom, making something new out of leftover food, a wonderful ways to eat same food in new way.
  5. Cook more at home, eat out less: I love cooking so it has been easy but I love eating out, so it has been a challenge a bit.
  6. Use garden vegetables if any available: This time our garden plants have eaten up by neighbor’s rabbit, and other reasons so we have barely a few tomatoes grown, not enough to make even salad.
  7. Eat Vegetarian diet: We are all vegetarian, including kids so this helps in our budget a lot, as vegetables tend to be cheaper compared to meat. We are also partial vegan and eat organic food as often so this becomes an added cost to our budget but so far we are managing.
  8. Do repairs by yourself: So far nothing major needed a repair but Zenguy fixed a chair and he does minor electric and gardening repairs by himself, learning as he goes in the process. That has helped a lot.
  9. No new Must “want” stuff of us: This usually means books and movies for me, new gadgets and computer parts for Zenguy and Toys for R. Little P is the most content, maybe because he is only one. So far, we have survived without must want buying.
  10. Drive less: We do have 2 cars, but to save gas and environment, we combined to errands together, shop near by, and generally drive less to not only save money but also an environment for future generation.

What did we do this week?

  • We cooked at home as usual more. Chef R loves to help and makes a huge mess but I guess that is part of life.
  • This time we moved on to MJ’s other songs as we failed miserably to “Billy Jean” and moon walking. Our current favorite dance song is “Macarena” and “Black and White”, a song DVD we already have in our collection. So we can see, listen and dance. Sorry no videos, I always forget as I am having too much fun.
  • We went for walk in neighbor hood, caught up and chatted with a few neighbors. That was great, it always good to talk to people and get to know them more
  • We all saw a few PBS shows, (only TV we watch), and selected DVD viewing. We went to park and played.
  • We also did imaginary trip and mission to Venus, as our bed in reality a secret rocket! Gosh our house has so many talents which I did not know until R (my preschooler) pointed out to me.

How much we spend last week?

Previous update we had about less than $65 left for 13 days, and I was getting worried. We have been cooking at home past week and emptying out freezer, dried grains and beans staples along with canned food. So we did not need any groceries or gas past week.

I was feeling bit down about breaking point, so to cheer myself up I bought a couple of used books from friends of library sale, which helped my mood and as well as library too. And I got 2 great used books for $1.50.

I have been not really able to sell anything on Craigslist but we gave it away a few stuff for free, that felt good even though we did not make money. Lately people have been flaking, not showing up when they said they would and wanting items for almost free. We also bought high chair for Little P from Craigslist for $10.

Total expense:
Groceries, used hih chair and books.

Total Spent last week: $18.50 (This is our one of the best spending amount so far)

Where are we on budget?

We are at $254.10 from about 26 days of spending. We have about 5 days more left before the month experiment is over. I think we may just make it! Next and final update will be on next Monday with an overview of whole month and what we learned from it.

Check out my previous money and sustainability posts, which might be useful.

12 ways to help your unemployed friends and family
Celebrating meaningful birthdays (without money)
Irony of recession

How are you all doing? Are you spending consciously?

Check out final update here No Spend Month Challenge: Final Take away .
Image Source: weblogs.jomc.unc.edu

No Spend Month Challenge: Update 3

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R and Little P having fun playing with Sand at near by Park:

This is our third week of update on No Spend Month Challenge that I am openly doing and sharing my spending on Heart and Mind Blog . Now there are 18 days down and 13 days left to go in this challenge.

Check out my previous updates to see our progress so far, here No Spend month challenge: Update 2

I am not sure how I will do this month or even next day for the total budget of $300 for the whole month. I sometimes do not know how each day will bring the challenge for me. Some days are so easy and other days requires more conscious effort on my part.

When I told Zenguy about the whole challenge, he did not know much about it but agreed to be on budget with me right away. Without his support I would be not able to do this challenge. As far as kids are concerned nothing much has changed. they still gets to do usual stuff they normally do and so do we, up to a point!

We did not stock up on gas or groceries and bought things normally as we do generally. During summer I am not teaching and R is at home more along with little P. Zenguy is searching for a project and meanwhile, we are living frugally yet still managing a little fun life despite the lack of budget. Here are some of the challenges and fun we had past week;

Some of the challenges

We had to go to a retreat gathering where we had to bring a potluck dish to share for 40 people. This time determined to stay in budget, I got creative and looked within my freezer and pantry for inspiration and there were plenty. I used up some of frozen food and pantry food to make hearty dish to bring to a potluck and it was a great success and well liked by everyone, including us.

Our indoor grill that we got as a gift in June stopped working, so repairing was not easy and nor was replacement due to our no spend month challenge. But when we mentioned it to our relatives who bought the grill, they said they still receipt and warranty for it ( less than 30 days purchase), so we got a free replacement from the company and they took the defective one back. If we were not doing this challenge, we might have bought new one without exploring other ideas.

Things we did to entertain our selves

All these things were fun and cost us nothing but little time and lot of mess to clean up later. But, it was worth it.

  • We cleaned up our front and back yard that we neglected for some time
  • We played dress up with kids (early Halloween)
  • We saw a free animal related show at the library
  • We made food we generally eat at restaurant and Chef R helped a lot
  • We went to near by park and played with kids
  • We danced to old Micheal Jackson songs and tried to do moon walking unsuccessfully
  • We saw kids shows and movies from our collection and library
  • I am reading books from my own collection, I like to re-read some of my favorite ones
  • We tried to repair one broken chair, when I say we, I mean Zenguy did it 🙂 I am not handy at all
  • I tried to learn sewing by reading a book from library (I am still clueless)
  • We have tried to make a game to see if we can see back wall of freezer by finding and using food inside it.
  • We actually were able to find some unopened boxed food to donate as we would not able to use it before expiring date.
  • R and Zenguy created story combining characters from toy story and cars (R’s favorite movies)
  • We saw our neighbor’s rabbit inside our yard again last week and fun giving her carrots and trying to help her find her home right next door. R and Little P were so excited, despite rabbit eating some of our new plants.

How much did we spent last week?

We did pretty well, from Last Monday till Saturday, we did not spent anything and I was quite feeling happy about it. I could have stretched buying to Monday afternoon and we would have been $0 for this week expenses. However this challenge is NOT for for vanity or showing off, it is all about conscious spending in our life. So we spent lot of money on needed stuff, all on Sunday! Here is the recap.

It has been over 2 weeks since we bought any groceries or filled a gas in our Van so  it was much needed. We needed fresh fruits, bread, Juice and snacks for the kids.

Gas for Van, groceries and light meal is what we spent money on this week.

Total Spent this week:  $97.15

As you can see, major expense in California is gas for cars and it is expensive and we are generally not avid drivers. Even though we do have 2 cars, we drive often close by and choose errands on same time to save gas and time both.  I guess eating out was splurge this week, but we had very light meal, snacks, our first meal out so far in 18 days.

Grocery bill is less, not because it is cheaper here but because we bought ONLY the necessary stuff needed and trying to use up food from our pantry and freezer first. Although our diet is mostly wheat and rice based, we have tried to eat varied food, and also eaten home made pizza, quesedilla, nachos,and pasta this month.

So far total amount we spent from July 1st-July 19th (afternoon) is $235.60, leaving only $64.40 budget for the remaining 13 days. Can we make it? I can not say for sure, I am going to try my best to stay under the budget. If you see our expenses, most of it for the necessity but very little, if any on thoughtless spending.

Some the tips we are using to save money:

  • Zenguy and I do not need any new clothes right now, we have enough,. R has grown taller so he can use new pants but I am looking for a deals before buying some. Little P gets to reuse most of R’s old clothes to save money. All of us have also newer clothes too but at home we are much relaxed.
  • Zenguy cuts kids hair at home, saving money. He gets haircut from students, so the price is much reasonable yet professional enough. I cut my own hair and do not need much beauty care as I am in to natural products using what we have at home.
  • I love cooking, so I usually cook at home but I also love to eat out, so we are trying to be more conscious about it. Zenguy is also helps and when I am breaking point, he makes his special chai at home or something special to cheer me up.
  • R and little P have plenty of toys and we keep some extra in storage to rotate when new toy itch comes around. They both are very good kids, so that helps too. They like natural playing, park and riding on Zenguy’s back more.
  • Using up food from our pantry, canned food and freezer before buying any more groceries.
  • Using books, movies and library for reading, music and watching movies, shows from our own collection, from what we have, what we can borrow
  • Write down every expenses every day, including any cents to keep eye on budget. We have been doing this for a few years and it really has a huge impact on our life.
  • Some times, when we think we need some item, we stop and ask do we “NEED” it or “WANT” it before buying anything.
  • I am terrible at using coupons but that is another great idea for saving money on groceries.
  • I make baby food for little P at home and buy little of ready made Gerber stuff. Little P is moving quickly into table food anyways, making it much easier to cook for everyone
  • We supplement disposable diapers with cloth diapers
  • We stay away from commercial outings such as malls, kids stores and hang out more at parks, library and our back yard. Imagination is great with kids, our bed becomes a rocket to fly over a Jupiter or our backyard swing becomes a steam engine train when playing with kids.

What would I buy if money was not an issue?

  • I would buy a walking shoes for me, as I have none right now. My old ones are donated as they were not better fit for my feet.
  • We would buy a router as our current router is so antique and keeps breaking out internet connection often, not a good experience when I am on blog writing a draft.
  • I would buy some pants for P, as he has grown since January and his pants are becoming a Capri pants.

My struggles (or being human with desire):

I will admit, yes I some times it is harder to do all penny pinching and feel like splurging a bit, But those moments are very few and when I am feeling down I remind myself why I am doing this and having a support from Zenguy is huge blessing. Having a bigger purpose or goal sure helps me. I take one day at the time and take it slow.

Check out next update on following Monday here No Spend Month: Update 4

I am sure we all like to save money and/or make more money regardless of how rich or poor we might be. How do you save money? What are your tips, struggles?