About sixteen years ago, I met him for the first time. My trainwreck sibling brought home this adorable puppy he had no business adopting because he had not one thing in his life that wasn’t a mess. I was furious at my sibling – he didn’t even take care of himself, how could he drag
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December 11, 2009
Warning: the ultimate comfort food meal up ahead!
Possibly the least frugal mac and cheese ever?
My friend had an emergency root canal just when I was planning a nice housewarming dinner, so Hangar Steak with Shallots or Funny About Money’s son’s Steak Mirepoix had to be canceled in favor of something more dental victim friendly.
Many thanks to L.A.Daze for both heading off disaster and inspiring the direction of dinner!
This 9 by 13 inch pan is probably more than a 10-serving dish. But we’re pigs.
I borrowed this recipe from Culinary Adventures of a New Wife: Lobster Mac ‘n’ Cheese. I meant to make the cheap version, leaving out half the ingredients, but somehow that plan got turned around and I only cut back on a few items.
Dinner served hobo-style: we’re still unpacking, so half the furniture is just cardboard boxes.
2 8 oz. boxes quinoa pasta — Just used mini fusilli pasta [$1.66]
2 tbsp butter [$1.99]
1/3 cup flour — nearly 2/3 cup to thicken up the sauce [had on hand, ~$0.10]
1 1/2 cup milk — [had on hand, ~$0.50]
1/4 cup chicken broth — 3/4 cup to stretch the sauce [had on hand, ~$1]
1 cup low fat sour cream — [$0.75]
1/2 lb Velveeta, cut into cubes
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp ground mustard — [had on hand, $0.10]
1/2 tsp ground black pepper — [had on hand, $0.10]
1/4 tsp coarse garlic salt — [had on hand, $0.10]
2 cups reduced fat shredded cheddar — [$2.50]
1/2 -1 cup frozen peas — 12 oz of peas and pearl onions [$2.00]
12 oz of frozen langostino tails — [$9.00]
Total: $18.00
Surprisingly, it only worked out to about $1.80 per serving even with the premium langostino tails and really heaping servings. And I really liked it more chicken broth and no Velveeta. I went really heavy on the peas, luckily they were perfectly sweet.
What’s your favorite comfort food or perfect pick-me-up meal?
December 10, 2009
If anyone is flying between now and January 7th, and would like to use the internet for FREE, email me or leave a comment with your email address and I’ll send you a special code. Don’t be shy! Inflight internet is FUN! Free inflight internet? Even better!
Edit: Little Miss Moneybags had a good question: Which airline is this for? It’s good on AirCanada, AirTran, American Airlines, Delta, United, Virgin, and coming soon to US Airways.
My friend is an employee of the UC system and, like other California government agency employees, subject to the state-mandated furloughs. She estimates that she’s taking a 15-20% paycut with the 17 furlough days, or nearly a month’s worth of workdays.
Another friend, listening in to the conversation, mentioned that Californians are able to claim partial unemployment, much like Funny About Money’s experience:
….we can claim unemployment for each furloughed day. That will be a HUGE hassle: you apparently have to fill out all the forms and jump through the hoops for every single claim. So it may not be worth the trouble. But it’s there.
My furloughed friend, however, smiled and said that while it bit into her budget enough that she had to decline the trip to Hawaii invitation, she wasn’t in trouble and preferred not to tax the state’s coffers any more than she had to.
Initially, my reaction was: that’s taking the long view. Admirable. If everyone was as careful about accepting “free” money (since she wouldn’t be working for that partial payment, rendering it similar to vacation pay) as she was, perhaps it’d make a difference.
But that’s a slender reed to lean on. So do you think this is actually a shortsighted decision? Should she be taking that money and banking it even if she’s comfortable now in case it just gets rougher or she’s laid off? There’s really no such thing as long-term job security for her, she’s employed by the state of California.
That’s right, the place that’s hiking in-state tuition and setting off protests [where riot cops beat peaceful protestors, and broke a friend’s camera], and closing medical facilities.
There aren’t many indications that California’s on the way out of the frying pan anytime soon. To temporarily stave off disaster, they’re implementing short term fixes like taking an extra ten percent from taxpayers through April 2010, and taxing medical marijuana. [Thanks to Kay Bell]
Times are tough. We get that. And when times are tough, we have to do things we don’t necessarily like to get out of it, we get that too. But without much more serious efforts to mend the budgets, dire predictions prevail:
The deficit is expected to be worse in the years beyond 2011, as temporary taxes expire and raids on local government funds must be repaid by Sacramento. Taylor projected a $21.3-billion deficit in fiscal 2011-12 and a $23-billion shortfall in fiscal 2012-13. [LA Times, November 19, 2009]
What would you do in her shoes?
December 9, 2009
Editor’s Note: Issue resolved & closed now.
December 8, 2009
I’ve always been an advocate of just asking for a discount, negotiating, or requesting fee waivers. Negotiating and haggling take a lot of practice, but you can always start small with requests for refunds, discounts and waivers. It’s a simple question, and worded politely, can save you a bundle!
November’s forays:
Success! Requesting a little stand to go with the piece I’d picked out as a gift from Little Dipper Castings. I knew my giftee would never wear the piece as jewelry, but would love to display it. The seller was nice enough to throw in the requested display block, free. [saved $9 on the chain]
Success! Chase charged me an incoming wire transfer fee of $15. As I’d called 4 times in the past verifying that I would not be charged, and been assured that I wouldn’t be, I called them back and the CSR immediately reversed the charge. [recouped $15]
Success! My wireless optical mouse rolled over and died. I love this thing and desperately needed it to keep my hands from seizing up with cramps from using the [I think] mildly insane touchpad. It’s got a few bats in the belfry. A call to Logitech, and five minutes on hold, and voila! A new mouse will be shipped out [via slowest ground shipping possible] without my having to return Defecto Mouse. [saved ~$45]
Work in progress! That pesky rebate: Those guys aren’t keeping my money! I called and pestered them, and tried to point out that they’re idiots for recording the shipping date as the order date nicely, and the guy acknowledged it, but couldn’t get them to process the rebate without sending in a second resubmission. It’s been sent in, and I’ll follow up again until they send my check.
Success! AT&T hasn’t been applying the FAN (15%) discount to my account since my contract started 19 months ago despite my verified eligibility. Three phone calls later, the last of which was more than a little frustrating, yielded both the $6 discount from now on, and a credit on my account for the entire contract period. [recouped $114]
This set was about small wins for me, but Oil and Garlic recently had a great fat honkin’ win!
It’s kind of fun keeping track of these wins, big and small. If anyone wants to join in the fun, or submit their own for inclusion, please email me!
December 7, 2009
What’s in my wallet is about to be changed: I’m subbing in a new credit card to earn car repair purchase points.
**Please note that I don’t use the card any more just to earn points and I definitely don’t carry a balance. That would defeat the purpose of creating this passive income stream.
Chase Cash Plus is my daily go-to card earning 5 points per dollar back on gas, groceries, and drugstore purchases, 1 point per dollar on all other purchases. My favorite redemption is the 5000 points = $50 check. It’s a tiny drop in the bucket, but it’s cash and who doesn’t love cash? [SingleMa. But she has a point. My cashback goes straight in the bank so I don’t spend it.]
Right now, though, I foresee minor problems with my car cropping up again, in addition to things I never bothered to fix: the fog light housing, the dings and dents, the self-inflicted injuries. As usual, the cosmetic surgery will wait, but the lock repair is necessary, the light goes wonky and only works if you set it just so, and the smashed housing should be fixed sooner rather than later.
Thanks to the Drive Miles Options, I have $75 worth of points rolled up, but don’t forget the fine print! Miles redemptions requires an equal number of purchase points. This means switching over from my Chase card to the Driver’s Edge card for all regular purchases. I’m not sacrificing the 5-1 points ratio on the bonus purchases, just the 1-1 dollar-point ratio.
I’ll have to spend a hefty sum on the Driver’s Edge card to rack up the required points, but when you combine the purchase points with the matching Drive Miles, it’s a 2-1 ratio and free money for car repairs to boot. Not a bad match, considering I’m saving myself from spending cash ($150) out of pocket. Compared to the delayed $50 cash redemption ($40 of which is already earned), it’s no contest.
December 5, 2009
If not a little bit of irony?
