Cheapest hacks: MYO table syrup and granola bars

I love the Pennies and Pancake blog- it has hands-down the cheapest recipes I’ve ever found on the internet. I regularly use two of her recipes- table syrup and granola bars.

Recipe #1:  Make-Your-Own Table Syrup

At our grocery store in Queens, a 20 ounce container of Log Cabin table syrup costs a whopping $6.79. This recipe costs no joke, under a dollar, which is quite a deal when your Saturday mornings regularly consist of pancakes!

Ingredients

1 cup water

2 tablespoons honey

2 teaspoons maple syrup (P&P uses maple extract instead)

2 cups white sugar

1/4 cup brown sugar

Combine all ingredients in a small saucepan over medium heat on the stove. Boil for 2 minutes. Allow to cool for 5-10 minutes. Carefully pour the syrup into a container such as glass jar. Store in the refrigerator.

 

Recipe #2:  Homemade Granola Bars ($0.11 each)

My husband and I both work full time, so grab and go foods are essential. We are granola bar connoisseurs having regularly eaten Clif Bars, Lara Bars, Two Moms, Kind, and many many others. It is an item that appears on our weekly shopping list. As with yogurt and granola, I have tried to hack granola bars since they can range from exorbitant ($2.50 each, Two Moms) and regularly at least a dollar each at our grocery store (even for run of the mill Nature Valley bars).  The cost benefits of MYO granola bars has been well-documented, but in my research the cheapest I have ever found was Pennies & Pancakes version (which actually stick together as a plus. The grand total of this whole recipe (12 bars) comes to just over a dollar). This saves us at least $10 a week in groceries.

Ingredients

1/2 cup honey

1/3 cup packed brown sugar

1/4 cup peanut butter

1/4 cup unsalted butter

4 cups Quick Oats (not rolled oats)

2 cups crispy rice cereal

3 teaspoons vanilla

In a large bowl, stir crispy rice cereal, quick oats together. In a medium saucepan, combine honey, butter, peanut butter, and brown sugar. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat then bring the temperature down to low, and simmer until it forms a syrup. Turn off the heat and let cool one minute, then stir in vanilla. Pour the hot mixture over dry ingredients. Stir until all ingredients are moistened. Press into a parchment-lined jelly roll pan. Put the mixture in the fridge for about 20 minutes. Cut into bars and store in aluminum wrap in fridge.

 

Keeping your edge- working in fashion on a $0 clothing budget

Working in fashion has been one of the most interesting and exciting professional opportunities I’ve had yet. I’m surrounded by art and beauty everyday and I work alongside people who are creative problem solvers and who find true joy in color, pattern and artisanal work. Though I am not a fashion designer and don’t play a creative role (I work in administration), the work place I am in values expressing your ideas and self through dress. Additionally, as you can imagine, many of my colleagues also dress very well.

This has been a challenge to manage since my husband and I have been frugal for the past 2 years (uber-frugal for the past year). Spending  money on clothes which we do not need has felt counter to our future life plans and savings trajectory. I’ve had trouble justifying many clothing purchases over the past 2 years because I recently did an analysis of my clothing expenditures from 2006 through the present and calculated that I’ve spent about $15,000 of clothes. Of course, some of that money was necessary to spend- I obviously wear clothes all of the time, and many pieces I’ve worn until they are ragged. I’ve got a lot of great pieces of clothing in my closet- many of them I over-wear, but many of them I don’t wear at all. For the pieces I don’t wear at all, I don’t like the styles as much, or I can’t figure out how to style the pieces to pull off the look I want. In an effort to wear these « unloved » pieces more, I created a ranking system of clothing use. My 2016 goal is to commit to wear the lowest ranked pieces on regular rotation instead of resorting to buying new pieces. I’ve heard of clothing swaps, 2nd hand sales etc, but with the condition of some of my clothes and social networks, none of these are options for me, at least at this point.

Thus, in the face of this self-imposed limitation over an (extended for me) period of time, I have come up with some clever ways to use what I’ve got without spending anything and simultaneously putting my best foot forward at work:

1. Weekly outfit planning. I used to buy clothes partly because I was too lazy to resourcefully force myself to use the clothing I had on hand. If I wanted a piece of clothing to fit an outfit image I had in my mind, I didn’t muddle through the pieces I had to solve a problem, I fixed the problem with money, by buying something new. I think of my outfits in terms of my workdays- Monday through Friday- and I think about it with a critical viewership in mind- myself and my colleagues who will surely be sporting something well thought through. I curate everything I wear before the week begins, giving advance thought to each outfit, so that I can feel confident with my decisions (instead of scrambling and making a game-time decision). Many of my poor fashion moments (which I still have routinely) was because I did not plan ahead.
2. Business uniform. There are a number of iterations of this same concept, but at its essence, the idea is to keep your clothing to minimalist basics, or your own set of curated basics. When clothing you own and purchase is all vetted within a framework that is simple, multi-functional and not cognizant of trends but rather your style, comfort and standard, it becomes easier to say no to pieces that fall out of this range. Examples such as the infamous 5-piece French wardrobe (or the capsule wardrobe), are one of the more elaborate options. To keep it cheap, edit what you have. Don’t buy anything new, only select items you own. As an exercise, generate 10 or more outfits based on the pieces you’ve made. I went to Catholic schools from age 4 to 17 and, as such was required to wear a uniform. The aspiration of something as simple as a uniform is something I still long for, especially since I work full-time and have committed to a 2016 clothing ban. I loved Harper Bazaar’s article about the creative professional who has decided to only wear one outfit in the office. I also enjoyed this article on how business leaders avoid decision fatigue by wearing the same thing at work: « The Science of Simplicity: Why Successful People Wear the Same Thing Everyday ».
3. Shirking clothing purchases to fund something else: authorship and creativity. Something that helps me rationalize clothing purchases is to, similar with item #2, make the avoidance of purchasing new clothes into an intellectual quandry or pursuit, which takes my mind off of deprivation into something more creative and productive. Sometimes the commitment to uber-frugality gets me down and can feel needless or pointless. But, when I look at my closet full of clothes, I can see just how much waste can be generated in purchase after purchase of new clothing. This is the exact future I want to avoid. I know that the decision to abstain from clothes is ultimately better for my wallet, the environment, detaching from consumerism (something I’ve seriously struggled with), and a host of other reasons related to expectations of myself, beauty, and « newness » at all costs. In the past, I have not purchased clothing because I needed it or even because it inspired me- it was to evoke a newness or freshness into my life. It also made me feel better about myself, not for any genuine reason- I felt more interesting and smarter because I felt I looked that way. But, what makes us smarter, fresher or more interesting is really based on how we choose to spend our time. The money I spent buying clothes came at the expense of spending that money on something else such as creating memories or experiences that had something constructive in mind- such as traveling, cooking, learning or anything else. I started gamifying my frugal pursuits- challenging myself how to learn different techniques cooking and also by trying to write more about my ideas.

Creative cooking with leftover fridge items

While renting a room in a group home in Washington, DC, I lived with two amazing cooks. These two were always up to something experimental: making broth, gnocchi, ramen, sushi, yogurt, the list goes endlessly on. It was so inspirational to see them work and I learned a lot from watching them. They approached their cooking as part creative outlet and part science project. There was a third reason for cooking so much- learning about cooking and food so that they’d know how to nourish and feed their family in the future- quickly and cheaply, while working full time. One of these roommates, Shannon, said that, as a future mom she aspired to the level of kitchen fluency where she could look at a mostly empty fridge, with a few scraps- an onion, some milk, handful of greens and have such a trained and resourceful eye that she could make something substantive out of it for dinner. Ever since, I’ve challenged myself to think the same way- by not having a lot around in the kitchen- forcing myself to come up with an acceptable and nutritious solution would mean I am pushing my cooking boundaries.

Cooking/food has always been an area of insecurity for me- not only how to cook, having the patience to cook, but feeling like it was possible while working in industry and not wasting tons of food/breaking the bank. I’ve compiled a list of what I have learned so far in my pursuit of frugal recipes that are healthy and cheap. However,  what happens when your fridge is really empty with only half-bits and scraps? Here are a few of my favorite recipes I’ve developed in this case & also tips for what to keep in your fridge as raw material.

Recipes

1. Lidia’s Italy Rice and Pea Soup: I make it with whatever ingredients I have- if that means no Parmesean, no celery, or short grain rice, I do the best with what I’ve got! If you make your own broth from the bones of meat you’ve already bought, this is extra frugal. If you need to omit something, omit it. Want to add something, add it. I’ve been trying to build my cooking instincts by not strictly sticking to recipes, or even using one. Just think about the flavors, layering them and using your fridge as your « canvas. » I’ve learned a lot from listening to food podcasts. Most recently when listening to Real Simple’s Things Cooks Know « Soup » episode, the number one takeaway I had was that you don’t need to be precise or orderly with soup. Put in what you have around and you can do a lot with a little.
2. Roy Choi’s Ketchup Fried Rice: Made from some day old rice, ketchup, a bit of onion & garlic and other bits here and there, you don’t need a lot to pull off this recipe. I make a lot of different types of stir fry with whatever ingredients I have around. For breakfast, if I have old rice, I’ll just fry up an egg and put it on top. Cabbage, carrot, onion, kimchi, peanuts- layer it on top to enjoy a meal when your fridge is nearly empty.
3. Homemade Spaghettios: A bit of pasta, sauce, cheddar cheese, a pinch of sugar and viola!
4. Poor Man’s Burrito Bowls: Thrown together Mexican food as last ditch effort. Could be a vegetarian « burrito bowl » or quesadilla, We usually have a stash of items that are long-lasting fridge items which could be thrown together for a quick Mexican-themed dinner. At its simplest we use white rice (cooked with veggie oil & salt, finished with splash of lemon juice), can of black beans (warmed with bay leaf), some shredded cheddar cheese, chopped onion/tomato. Would also help to have a potted herb around to throw cilantro into the salsa.

Good ingredients to use as raw material for empty fridge days

Fridge: Onion, lemon, garlic, eggs, carrot, cabbage, ketchup, soy sauce, sriracha, yeast, broth or better than bullion, block of cheddar cheese, salsa, jelly/jam

Pantry: Rice, oats, pasta, peanuts, can of tomato sauce, can of chickpeas, can of black beans, spices such as: chili powder, cumin, curry powder, and paprika.

 

Life Hack: Getting the Park Slope Mommy/Baby Look at fraction of the Cost

There are a ton of mommy bloggers in Park Slope who seem to have endless amounts of cash to drop on their maternity outfits and baby gear. Every day they photograph their hipster-clad baby and share on Instagram. I love the styling of these mothers and babies in these blogs and social media. However, I also feel strongly that since babies grow at a rapid rate and only fit into clothing pieces for a brief period of time, dropping thousands of dollars for perfectly curated gear can set you way back from your financial and life goals. Even one of my conservative estimates, mostly consisting of cheaper items, totaled over $5,000! This didn’t include additional costs once the baby moved out of its first year of life into different sorts of “stuff” requirements.

My stubborn side feels that these expensive items are needless because cheap design solutions are easily found. Searching for chic baby items to perfectly curate, no matter how expensive, is going to take some time and a vision of the look you want to create. Finding frugal but well-designed baby clothes for 10% of the cost you would originally pay is entirely possible. It’s all about looks, an understanding of design and color and visiting a relatively broad swathe of stores to search for items within range.

So, how do you refuse to compromise on design and style for your baby and self and not only that- stay sustainable and frugal? Couples such as Frugalwoods who I feel have done the frugal aspect really well (with an only $20 budget for everything baby & maternity), have admitted that they do compromise on style. My solution will cost a bit more than that but can guarantee that you look way more wealthy than you are and saving you thousands of dollars so you actually will maintain that wealth, using it for items that matter the most to you.

Here are three things I do to maintain style & keep costs low:

1. Keep it simple

2. Elevate your basics

3. Remember art & design fundamentals

Looking polished on a budget means keeping it simple and not attempting to do too much style-wise. Elevating your basics for you and your baby ensures that you aren’t attempting to compete with trends, but are still mindful of basic design principles- shape, size, texture, etc. And mostly, to make these things work for you.

This may mean that there is not as much variance in the types of pieces you wear. However, French women are notorious for having a simple, discerned wardrobe and by design, do not own many pieces. They are rotating pieces, interchanging them constantly. This means they don’t have as much diversity in their worn pieces but it evolves into more of a « chic uniform » than a predictable, routinized wardrobe.

I suggest sticking to neutral color palettes and clothes that have basic designs. Always purchased used- my favorite rule is only purchase used clothes at maximum 10% of original value- but ensure that the clothes you buy look as new and unworn as possible. Avoid buying special pieces such as ornate holiday outfits or other items that look very unique with a singular purpose. Once an outfit is purchased at a particular size for a particular holiday, its use is limited to only that one moment. Additionally, overly gendered pink and blue items can look predictable and look time saving. As with a chic adult wardrobe, the key is to have an inventory of circulated basics rather than a collection of special trend or occasion items. Stick to simple prints and patterns and remember the color wheel and which colors complement (and clash!) with each other. One of the important aspects of mothers/babies that look curated is that all of their decisions are intentional but are not always so obvious. However, the styling falls within a pattern of predictability, making them relatively easy to hack.

4 reasons I am challenging myself to a 2016 “clothing ban”

The last pieces of clothing I bought was in October 2015 and was a replenishment of Uniqlo “Heattech”. I purchased 3 under shirts I needed for winter (mine had worn through to holes) in total costing $50. Before then, it was a whole 5 months since I’d bought a single piece of clothing- I survived the entire summer by only purchasing a new pair of Chaco sandals. Since I was pretty disciplined on clothing purchases in 2015, I’ve thought seriously about doing a full clothing ban for the full calendar year 2016—here’s why:

1. I took an inventory of my clothing, calculated how much I spent on the items, and was subsequently horrified

Of all the ways Kevin and I have chosen to cut back on lifestyle items toward more savings and increased frugality, cutting out clothing is the single hardest thing for me. For instance, between start of 2007 through 2014, I spent over $15,000 on completely new clothes. I am a clothing and fashion junkie.

I know these figures precisely because I recently decided to do a clothing inventory of all the clothing I own and how much I paid for them.  Realizing that I alone have spent $15k in a relatively short period of time on clothing makes me wonder what I could have accomplished savings-wise if I had purchased fewer and less expensive clothes over the years. (embarrassingly, these figures don’t cover anything I purchased pre-2007). To put this into frugal perspective, in 2015 Kevin and I collectively spent just $1,000 on clothing, much of which due to 2 badly needed winter coats and Kevin moving to an office job and needing professional clothes.

2. I developed a “use index,” ranking which clothes I wear most to least.

Needless to say, since I’ve now spent over $15k on clothes in less than a decade, I have a lot of clothes I can wear which are in perfectly good condition. However, I realized that I tend to wear the same clothes over and over again, yet many of my clothes I do not wear at all. So, in addition to tracking how many clothes I have and how much I paid for them, I also developed a simple ranking system on how often I wear the clothes themselves. This I call my “use index”- or, how much I use the clothes I have.

On a scale of 1 to 3, 1 being worn the most and 3 being worn the least, I ranked all of the clothes I have according to this scale. I can now get a clear sense of my whole closet and which items I should focus on wearing intentionally. This helps me vary my outfit choices, giving me a wider range of diversity in my outfits without making a single purchase.

3. Weekly planning is not only for meals- can be done for outfits too!

Because I tend to be rushed in the morning but still want to look polished for work, I have long been planning my weekly work outfits in advance of Monday morning. However, as I’ve tried to scale back on clothing purchases, this has also served another valuable purpose- watching what I wear and how often I wear it. I can be more strategic, and gain more control over my looks but also my inventory. Like meal planning, weekly outfit planning can save you thousands of dollars over the long run. By wearing more items you don’t wear as often, you can rotate your pieces, and reduce the wear and tear on your most dearly loved pieces. You can also be clear about what pieces you have, so you are not at risk of losing items, or purchasing redundant items. For instance, I have 3 different long sleeve black t-shirts, yet I find myself pining after the latest Everlane release all of the time (their latest release is $35!). I can wear what I have and it is a perfectly adequate replacement.

4. Moving towards greater sustainability and ecological/social responsibility

In an effort to be more mindful of my purchases and not produce as much waste, wearing the clothes I have is a key part of this commitment. Films like « The True Cost » show how harmful unfettered clothing purchases can be to the environment, to people and communities. By purchasing clothing when it’s needed, we become more intentional about what we need, instead of feeding the desire for cutting-edge beauty at every moment.

6 ways to stay educated & entertained on a $20/month budget

We do not have cable at my house. And, until by husband’s 30th birthday last year I had not had a TV since 2008 (my husband since he lived at his parents home!). Of course, sometimes we watch TV on major news channels such as PBS, ABC, CBS, NBC or FOX for free (especially sports games). However, like many people we watch most of our TV on our computers, having experimented with and sometimes concurrently having) different services such as Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime. We also used to spend about $50/month on rental movies and on-demand TV shows through Amazon Instant and iTunes. Additionally, we were paying about $300 worth of subscriptions a year to entertain us on our morning commutes. When we decided to slash our entertainment budget in 2015, our pivotal, eye-opening year of frugality, I worried that we’d have to spend a lot more time curating our media options to stay abreast of the news or keep ourselves entertained. However, we utilize far more media than we did when we were paying all of that money through a few simple hacks. We are now spending under $20 per month on entertainment with minimal changes to our habits or behaviors.

1. Amazon Prime: Of all the services we used, we felt that Amazon Prime was the best deal overall. Not only was it only $0.25 per month more than Netflix (which is $8/month), it had roughly the same inventory of shows we watched and included free shipping on many products. Even though we use Amazon pretty sparingly, this still made financial sense for us. This is an annual cost of $99/year.

2. Free TV and movies on the internet:  We love shows such as Downton Abbey, Call the Midwife, Mercy Street and Sherlock for free on PBS.org. But you can find a host of other free media on sites such as Youtube.com (my favorite shows are Escape to the Country and Last Week Tonight). My husband and I are also huge fans of documentary films and try to get these online for free also. Some of our favorite sites to watch are Aeon Video, PBS.org and SnagFilms.

3. Library: For most people, a common frugal hack is to go to the library for movies, books and subscriptions. However, since the public library system in New York is onerous to navigate & far from us, we don’t use it. However, coincidentally I work at a university and so have access to a lot of completely free books and periodicals. I used to pay about $100/year for my weekly Economist issue, but instead of getting paper copy I go digital through my employer’s periodical database. This saves not only $100/year, but over 5,200 sheets of paper annually as well. I’ve additionally added a subscription which I wouldn’t allow myself before- Foreign Policy, saving me $100/year, but adding to my off-duty education!

4. Listen to free podcasts: To incentivize me to do housework and cooking, I listen to completely free, high-quality podcasts. Slate’s Political Gabfest, Slate Money, Things Cooks Know, Freakonomics Radio and The History Chicks and streaming service such as BBC World Service and NPR are some of my favorites which I consider built-in learning time. But, Panoply.fm has many podcasts available to stream for all podcast preferences and is continually adding more. They have amassed quite a selection!

5. Look for discounts:  We were paying $15/month on our New York Times subscription, but now only pay $8/ month, a 50% corporate discount through my work. However, before we knew this was available to us, we had locked in that same rate merely by asking for it and they, surprisingly to us, were willing to oblige. Additionally, we do allow ourselves a Bon Appetit magazine subscription of about $1/month which was a promotional deal locking down 24-issues over 2 years.

6. Use free cultural resources: In New York, many of the museums are pay what you wish (such as the MET and Natural History Museum), others come with an over $20 price tag per ticket. Yikes! Instead, we go to museums when they are hosting their weekly free hours. For instance, both the Whitney and MoMa offer free entry on Friday evenings.

All in all our subscriptions and activities cost us $219 annually, which is only $18.25 per month!

Yogurt & granola breakfast hack can save you $44/month

I usually eat oatmeal with some walnuts and honey for breakfast, but my husband needs something more substantive, usually opting for a Chobani yogurt, banana and some type of cereal (preferably granola). Living in NYC means constantly battling the premium we pay for food. And since we live in Queens and don’t have a car, we forego cheap or quick access to places like Costco which can give us steep discounts on products we love and used to consider an unalterable cost of grocery-buying. Living in NYC has challenged us to look deeper into our habits to see if we could still eat the same foods we prefer, but cut the high cost. For this post, I decided to take a stab at cheapening the cost of of our granola and yogurt-eating habits.

Hacking Granola Costs:  In the Midwest, where my husband and I are from, we could easily find boxes of cereals for $3 per box. But at our walkable grocery stores, we can’t find anything less than $5 per box but usually more for high quality cereals, particularly granola. Additionally, we can’t rely on Amazon deliveries because our building doesn’t have a doorman (so packages can’t be received) and our employers have policies prohibiting shipping personal items to work. Alas, fear not, because we found a way to do relatively well on

The cost-saving magic of make-your-own granola is well documented, but the more expensive products you add, the fewer savings you retain. So, in the recipe below, I’ve tried to hack the cheapest granola possible.

Make your own: Raisin and Peanut Granola

• 6 cups oats ($.13 cents per cup x 6 = $0.81)
• 1 c. honey (1.25 per cup)
• 1/2 c. brown sugar ($0.25 per 1/2 cup)
• 1 c. olive oil ($1.42 per cup)
• 1 c. raisins (about $1.36 per cup)
• 1 c. peanuts (about $1.16 per cup)

Bake at 300 degrees for 35-40 minutes. Makes 9 cups. Total cost for roughly 18 days (1/2 cup portions) for $4.83 total. Based on Bear Naked subscription price on Amazon (3.81 for about 2.5 cups). So, for 9 cups cost equivalent would be $13.70! Cost savings of about $15/month. Our cost savings are actually much greater than this $31/month because our grocery store cost of the same Bear Naked granola is $5.99 for 2.5 cups).

Hacking Yogurt Costs:   Chobani is hands-down our favorite yogurt because it’s high protein and relatively low sugar, but a per-serving cup can cost us anywhere from $1.25 (on sale) to $1.59 (not on sale). So, of course I had to see if there was a way to bring the cost down, and indeed there was! And it could not be simpler, more easy to do (which was a requirement for my low patience levels). If you want better step-by-step instructions, The Kitchn’s version is a good one.

Make your own: Plain Yogurt

• 1/2 gallon of milk (I like whole milk but you can use whatever you like)
• 1 small cup of plain yogurt (for a starter, I use plain Chobani at $1.79- don’t use anything flavored!)

Pour the milk into a pot and place on stove. Turn the heat to medium and monitor, stirring occasionally (don’t let anything stick to bottom of pan). Right as the milk begins to bubble, turn off the heat and place  in a cool water bath. Once the milk reaches room temperature, mix together about a cup of the milk with a tablespoon or more of your plan yogurt starter. Pour this mix and the rest of your milk into an insulated pot such as a dutch oven. I use the ceramic portion of my slow cooker. Then, wrap the pot in a towel and leave in oven (turned-off) with only my oven light on. The process takes about 8 hours. I do this overnight so that when I wake up in the morning, my yogurt has worked it’s magic overnight!

This hack yields roughly 8 cups (8 oz.) of yogurt. Half gallons of milk at my grocery store are $2.79. The starter is a one-time cost since you can make a starter from the yogurt you made which costs me $1.79. So, assuming highest cost of yogurt at $1.79 per container (5.3 oz) for 20 yogurts per month (eating yogurt every week day) you could spend up to $35.80/month on yogurt. With this hack and for same volume, you would only spend about $6.40 (with the starter!) which saves about $29 per month! On one grocery item!

Note: I wanted a greek-style yogurt, so I drained the whey by using a coffee filter in a strainer for 20-30 min. I had to strain in 3 phases, but by the end I had perfect, thick yogurt!

Save $800/year by switching from Verizon to Republic Wireless

A bit after we got married in May 2014, we decided to move off our respective « family share plans » and start our own, 2-line service plan. At the time, we didn’t do any cost comparison between services- we had a historically good experience with Verizon and wanted to keep things as simple as possible. Big mistake- this ended up costing $2,000 which could have been avoided with one easy switch between cell phone carriers!

From May 2014 to June 2015 we were paying $150/month for two lines from Verizon, so about $2,000 in total costs over that time. We decided to keep our old phones, trying to keep costs down (ha, ha). Because we had not signed a contract and because my workplace offered a 6% corporate discount, we were able to reduce our cell phone bills to about $100/month through these benefits and discounts. Still, from July 2015 to December 2015 we paid $600 further in cell phone service costs. So, $2,600 from May 2015 through December 2015.

I started to get serious about hacking our expenses, with the aim of getting exactly the same service for less money. After researching Republic Wireless, I learned that though you pay the full cost of the cell phone upfront, our total 1Gb of data per month would costs us a grand total of $35 monthly.

In Jan 2016 we finally decided to take the plunge when our 3-year old phones finally died. We paid upfront for two, $199 MotoG phones, plus taxes and shipping for a total of $445. Additionally, we paid $22 total for cell phone cases on Amazon. In total, $467 in upfront costs. We expect that it will take us about 7 months to re-coup for the costs of the phones but once we do that, expect to save at least $335 in the first year and then $800 every year after that! Another benefit to Republic is that they refund you the cost of the data that you do not use. On our first month we only used 50% of the data we bought and received a refund of $X!

2 super easy ways to cut landfill waste at lunchtime & save $50/year

We all know that making your lunches every day can save you thousands of dollars a year. But did you also know that the way you choose to take these items to work can also secretly suck away your hard-earned cash?

In addition to saving money wherever we can, we also try hard to lessen our carbon footprint. This is partly why we choose to live in an urban environment with no car, use A/C and eat meat sparingly. We’ve tried to address the big ways we can reduce our environmental impact, thinking truly only about what we need and finding alternate ways to get these things more responsibly. However, as we know with money and trash, small differences in behavior can quickly accumulate to large impacts.

We knew that the lunches we packed for work were one of these small things that was putting an unnecessary dent in our wallets and the landfill. So, we began to research options for a more sustainable solution to a number of our ill-thought out lunch packaging habits! Here are 3 things we’ve cut over the years.

Disposable Plastic Sandwich Bags

Excitingly, we recently came across Blue Avocado Reusable Sandwich Bags. As they are BPA and PVC free and had great reviews, we decided to give them a try.We purchased 2 sets of 2 (total 4) reusable sandwich bags for $8.83 per pack for a total of $17.66. With Amazon Prime we received free shipping so our total with tax came in just under $20.

I estimate that with my husband and my lunches weekly we go through at 20-25 reusable sandwich bags weekly. The best price on Amazon that I found was 500 disposable sandwich bags for about $17.  So we predict our new purchase will take about 20 weeks to pay off and assuming highest usage of 25 bags/ week for 5 years, plan to save around $170 in total! (And possibly more depending on how these bags hold up). But, most importantly, we expect that because of this small change we’ll also save more than 5,000 sandwich bags from going to landfill. Just for one little switch!

Brown Paper Lunch Bags

I haphazardly throw my lunch into my backpack upon my departure to work every morning using Tupperware containers which was a one-time expense we paid for upfront. But my husband likes to keep his lunch components more organized. We realized one mindless expense we could cut was to purchase him a cheap, $7 reusable lunch bag from Target and eliminate brown paper bags. We had been spending about $22 on packs of $500 (with free shipping from Amazon). Assuming Kevin works about 270 days per year (and thus brings his lunch) we were only spending about $11/year on this expense. But, over time these savings add up and save about 270 brown bags going into landfill to boot!

Watermelon & blood orange ‘agua fresca’

One of my favorite things to do is to hack outrageously priced luxury items such as candles, NYC restaurant food, and fashion. Juice is no exception. Equinox is the notoriously expensive ($200 monthly for a membership!) NYC gym which has a superbly curated Juice Bar where the cost of a 12-oz drink ranges from $8 to $14! We can do much better on price and still get the exact same luxuriously healthy drink.

This recipe is adapted from one of my most favorite frugal cookbooks, « Good and Cheap ». A great way to upgrade basic water, but not drink something as heavy as a smoothie, is to make Agua Fresca, which is a simple drink blending fruit into water.

This agua fresca recipe can be made for a mere $0.50 per serving and can use any type of fruit you want. For this version, I used a simple pureed watermelon, some blood orange juice (squeezed) and teaspoon of honey mixed with water. The drink is perfect for summer days or outdoor parties. It can be additionally blended with vodka or you can drop in some whole berries (such as blueberries), which is what the Equinox version does. The watermelon when blended will create a more pure consistency, but other fruits may give more pulpy consistencies. If this is not to your liking, feel free to strain & the lovely tint will still remain!

Here is my recipe:

• 2 cups watermelon ($1.50 for 2 lbs)
• Blood orange juice squeezed ($0.50 for one)
• 4 cups water
• 1 tsp honey ($0.05)
• Place all items in a blender and blend well for about 30 seconds.

Yields 5, 8-0z servings. Other Agua Fresca ideas I have tried with great success are: Strawberry & lemon & a teaspoon of maple syrup; and Mango & cucumber. Other ideas could include fresh ginger however, experimentation and tailoring based on your preferences are highly encouraged!