The Town Square: I was born a poor white boy..no, I had to work 26 years to get there!

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Friday, April 25, 2003

I was born a poor white boy..no, I had to work 26 years to get there!

Incoming, big post. If I break the ice big time more people can jump in. If you can't contribute survival strategies, just send those small used bills to my Unemployed Writers' Fund (or "Triple-U, Ef"). No, money bills, not dunning notices.

Addenda from the Groveling Gourmand

Boxed Macaroni and Cheese on sale.

Ramen

Instant milk (for cooking or stretching some whole milk)

Non-iceburg lettuce if you HAVETA have a salad (not many nutrients)

Store brand instant mashed potatoes

Baking soda (save on/boost cleaning agents, antacids, and drain cleaner).

Spray butter flavoring (lower on calories, goes farther)

PAM spray (same)

Ziplock baggies of appropriate sizes to hold leftovers (put baggie in bowl or tupperware, put in leftovers, freeze, take baggie out of bowl and stow in freezer).

Go fishing (watch out for pollutants), know someone with chickens and volunteer to clean the henhouse, plant or help with a garden.

How are you going to feed pets?

posted by majroj at 9:57 PM Comments (2) (link)

To xnera and the other slim-livers

I have a copy of a great old book called "How To Live Good But Cheap", which along with a basic cookbook will get you through the expensive food thing. I wound up on a monthly grocery purchase then $1.00/day the first semester of nursing school, lost too much non-fat weight, but made it nonetheless.

1. Start economizing at once. Want to slide in for a landing, not crash. Looketh not into Sunset magazine.

2. Start addressing why you can't buy food, at once.

3. Rule of thumb: you pay through the nose for convenience.Top culprit: brand name cold breakfast cereal.

4. Another rule of thumb: comparing two objects of the same type, the more expensive one is usually of a better quality, but you can get by on the cheaper.

5. Frozen costs more than canned. You can live on canned.

6. Peanut butter can be a cornerstone of your diet, but you have to introduce some variety.

7. Meat is an option, but you better like beans and rice, plus some corn. Eggs are a good addition.

8. Hot sauce covers a multitude of sins. Shoyu converts leftovers into chopsuey or chowmein. Garlic salt...essential.

9. Stores are designed to sell to a socioeconomic stratum. Pick an OK one. Forget about the glitz, but don't accept filth.

10. Coupons...DO NOT NOT NOT keep coupons for stuff you don't need. They are designed to sell you stuff that isn't moving.

11. If you have an Asian market nearby (not a boutiqy one, but a real live big ol' asian market with live catfish and piles of veggies) check raw materials out.

12. You can overdo the homespun bit. I found a way to make my own french bread really cheap, but stuff like mayonnaise and peanutbutter icecream topping will go bad before you use them.

13. And you can waste a lot of time and get sucked into associated impulse puchases  by fllitting from store to store to chase savings.Not to mention gas prices and risk to car from grocery lot collisions.

14. Spend one day scouting (not shopping) used stores. The big names are OK (Goodwill, Salvation Army), but I found better quality at Deseret Industries (if you don't mind supporting the CoLDS aka Mormons), and a private place which buys the best stuff off charities and then sells it at a profit...at the same or better prices. You can then buy your waffle iron, coffee pot, food processor etc cheap, just be sure to test 'em first. Big winners: slow cooker with removable liner (soups are dirt cheap, reduce tough meats, cook while you job hunt or blog); waffle iron; deep teflon coated frying pan/wok to stirfry leftovers.

15. Garage sales, family's attic/garage/basement/storage rental for food prep tools.

Hey, forget this, I'm going to post this! 'scuse me......................

posted by majroj at 9:33 PM Comments (0) (link)

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