Tightwad Wednesday - Tomato Soup & Seasoned-Rice Substitutes

Each week, I will test out two tips from the The Complete Tightwad Gazette, and on the following Wednesday I’ll review how they went and evaluate if it is worth my time/effort/money to continue with it.

I’m excited about this challenge because I like being able to try recipes featuring the original versus the cheaper version. To properly test these “sensible substitutes” on taste and price I made them head to head with their competitors. I also used generic products whenever possible. Let’s see how it went!

Tomato Soup

For this challenge I put the Tightwad’s tomato soup using tomato paste up against my store brand condensed soup in a can.

Tomato Soup from The Complete Tightwad Gazette (p.424)

1 6 oz can tomato paste
24 oz milk (refill tomato paste can four times)
1 teaspoon salt or to taste
1 teaspoon celery seed

Put tomato paste in a small saucepan. Add the milk using the can, rinsing thoroughly. Add the salt and the celery seed. Cook on medium heat, stirring occasionally.

Since the tightwad’s version used milk to make it a creamy tomato soup I decided to prepare the canned soup in the same fashion. According to my canned soup I could use 1 can water or a 1/2 can whole milk. I compromised and used a full can of my 1% milk. No celery seed was added in our trial - we don’t like the flavor so much.

Store Brand (21.5 oz)		Tightwad (30 oz)
Ingredient	Cost	Ingredient	Cost
Condensed Soup	$0.59	Tomato paste	$0.36
Milk	$0.32	Milk	$0.72
Total	$0.91	Total	$1.08
Cost per oz	$0.04	Cost per oz	$0.03
		Savings per oz	$0.01	or $0.08 a cup

Tightwad vs Store Brand The savings appear to be pretty small for this test. After tasting them side by side we both felt that the store brand soup was significantly better. It had better flavor and depth. Even the color of the store brand soup looked more appetizing - almost orange rather than pink.

Eric wouldn’t even eat the tightwad soup for dinner, saying it lacked body and richness. I gave him the store brand and I ate the tightwad version. I agree it wasn’t as good but it was passable. I would say spend the extra $0.08 a cup and enjoy the generic condensed soup. The savings aren’t worth it.

Seasoned-Rice Mix

For this challenge I wanted to compare the seasoned-rice mix to Rice-A-Roni. I really like Rice-A-Roni so I was hoping this cheaper version would turn out well.

Seasoned-Rice Mix from The Complete Tightwad Gazette (p.425)

3 cups uncooked rice
1/4 cup dried parsley flakes
6 tablespoons instant chicken or beef bouillon powder
2 teaspoons onion powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme

Mix all the ingredients, and store in an airtight container. To use, put 1 cup mix, 2 tablespoons margarine, and 2 cups water in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat, and simmer for 15 minutes or until the rice is tender. To more closely approximate Rice-A-Roni, substitute a cup of broken pieces of uncooked spaghetti for a cup of rice.

I used chicken bouillon to make the tightwad version similar to the popular chicken flavored Rice-A-Roni. I didn’t include the price of the margarine because it was equal on both recipes. I did substitute some broken pasta for some of the rice and included that in the cost.

Rice-A-Roni (7.2oz), dry		Tightwad (30oz), dry
Ingredient	Cost	Ingredient	Cost
Boxed Mix	$1.19	Rice	$1.12
		Pasta	$0.41
		Bouillon	$1.08
		Seasonings	$0.10
Total	$1.19	Total	$2.71
Cost per oz	$0.17	Cost per oz	$0.09
		Savings per oz	$0.08	or $0.64 a cup

Tightwad vs Brand Name I will say that the tightwad recipe was easier to make than the brand name. You just dump it all in a pot and leave it alone. But the texture suffered with that method. The tightwad version was really dark with all that bouillon, too.

Although the savings are somewhat significant at $0.64 a cup, the taste tells the true story. Eric hated the tightwad version. Hated it with a passion. He said he would only consider making it if it saved him $20 a serving. Those are strong words. What good is saving money when your family won’t eat it?

He is right though. The Rice-A-Roni was much, much better. I want to blame it on the fact that my bouillon was looking a little old but honestly this recipe failed in just about every way. I would not recommend this recipe, at least not as is. Just make regular rice. Seriously. Rice with a little butter and salt blows this away in taste and price.

These two recipes showed me something. Sometimes saving money is not worth sacrificing taste.

Stay tuned for next week’s Tightwad Wednesday challenge when I will be testing out several more “sensible substitutes”:

Seasoned Salt p. 423
Taco-Seasoning Mix p. 423
Onion-Soup Mix p. 424

Saving Money But Losing Touch

Awwww I went to breakfast with my best friend this morning. We have been friends since high school and have been lucky to have moved to the same town later on in life.

Today was the first time in a long time that we had planned to meet. We used to meet for breakfast pretty frequently, usually once a week. Lately though, things had changed and we would go weeks without seeing each other. This had been bothering me and after a bit of reflection I realized that it seemed to coincide with my new frugal lifestyle.

I asked her about it and told her my concerns that we hadn’t been getting together as often. She said that she knew I have been saving up for this house…

Was my change in lifestyle affecting our relationship?

Could she be afraid of derailing my success in saving up for a home by asking me to breakfast?

Had I neglected my friend by not figuring breakfasts (our special time together) into my budget?

I’m sure it must have been a shock for her to see me go from living completely beyond my means to living on a fraction of my income in order to save aggressively. My friend isn’t a spendthrift but she also doesn’t manage her spending by budgeting like I do now. I wondered if my new attitude on spending money might be making her uncomfortable. Perhaps she thought I might judge her spending now that I have cut back so much. I needed to let her know that wasn’t the case.

We talked about it and I realized she was very proud of me and how I had set myself a goal and was working towards it. By not asking me to breakfast she was trying to support my efforts. I assured her that meeting for breakfast wasn’t a problem and that it wouldn’t break the bank.

I realized that in prioritizing my spending I had neglected to budget for something very important to me. I will now be adding a modest “breakfast” category to my budget to ensure that I don’t forget where my priorities really are. I will make sure I spend that budget every month, too. The time I spend with her is absolutely worth it.

Image Source: kalandrakas

Make It From Scratch #37 - The Frugal Edition

It’s time for Make It From Scratch #37! This carnival features the efforts and ideas of those who like to cook, craft, and create things from scratch.

If you are new to A Penny Closer, welcome! This is a blog about a couple who are working together to reach their goals through budgeting, saving, and learning about frugality. You can read more about our story here or view a single page of all of our posts in our archives.

Although I enjoy crafts and DIY projects, I must admit that I have a serious love affair with cooking so every week I feature at least one recipe called a “Reducipe“. They are recipes designed to reduce your grocery bills by making an expensive meal cheaper, or an already cheap meal better.

I thought “frugality” would be a perfect theme for this edition. Creating something homemade not only exercises our creativity and resourcefulness, it helps us save money along the way. And with the holidays right around the corner who couldn’t use a few extra bucks in their pockets?

We had a lot of wonderful submissions this week and I’ve marked my personal favorites with a star (*). Please enjoy!

Cook it!

*Mrs. Micah from Mrs. Micah: Finance and Life gives us a recipe for Frugal Lentil, Sausage, and Rice soup. This soup sounds very simple and satisfying and would be great for these chilly autumn nights. The recipe she gives makes a large batch so be prepared for a lot of soup for very little cash.

*Silvia from Po Moyemu–In My Opinion tests out a recipe from a Cook’s Illustrated cookbook in her post Cold Weather Tonight–Time for Some Chili. I absolutely love that she used home grown tomatoes for this recipe. There is something so appropriate in using one’s own produce to make a big pot of chili or soup. She cut the spices in half for her version but being that I’m from Texas I would probably double them! :-)

Stephanie from Stop the Ride! passes along a recipe for A New Twist on an Old Favorite - Meatloaf. Meatloaf is a smart way to save money and she gives several great ideas on how to vary the flavors on a tried and true meatloaf recipe. By making a few simple variations she keeps this classic meal interesting for her family.

Donetta from A Life Uncommon presents Homemade Taco Seasoning Mix . She makes this taco seasoning in bulk which allows her to control what’s included (or not included) and save money at the same time. I love making tacos so this is something I should look into!

Tiffany of Natural Family Living Blog introduces us to her Raw Peach Cobbler. She puts a healthy spin on the classic by using dates and walnuts for the topping. All you need are the ingredients and a food processor and you are ready for dessert in no time. Yum!

Amy from MomAdvice shares a Panera-style Broccoli & Cheddar Soup in Frugal Hacks: Soup Supper. She loves the Broccoli & Cheddar soup from Panera Bread so much that she decided to find a recipe she could make at home that mimicked it. Making “knock-offs” of your favorite restaurant fare at home is a fabulous way to save money.

Zamejias from Verb tells us about her recent first-time experience with Lobster cooking. You might be thinking lobster isn’t frugal but in this case it is. She got these lobsters for a phenomenal price from a fishing buddy and she prepared them at home. I’d say this is the best way to enjoy lobster on the cheap, short of getting it for free!

*brip blap discusses his blunders in trying to save money buying a grill for home cooking in a tale of 3 grills. Grilling at home is a great way to entertain but you have to have the right tools to make it successful. He points out that sometimes we buy the cheapest, only to discover that it doesn’t get the job done and it costs us more in the end. When selecting goods we should be frugal, not cheap, in order to get the best value in the long term. I think we’ve all been there, brip blap.

Laura of Laura Williams’ Musings reminds us How to Make Homemade Fries. Making french fries at home is so much cheaper than buying them and when they are this simple to make (like in this recipe) we have no excuse to pay more. Personally, I prefer mine fried but baking them is easier and better for you.

SeaBird of SeaBird Chronicles passes along a recipe for Porridge, as in Goldilocks. I had no idea porridge was this complex with so many good-for-you ingredients. This sounds like a solid way to start out your day.

Bake it!

*Christine from welcome to my brain accommodates for my lack of bread-baking skills with her whole wheat bread for complete morons. She does an excellent job explaining how she makes the bread from start to finish so that even the baking-challenged can turn out a good loaf. Entertaining and educational at the same time.

*HowToMe lets us in on a recipe from her mom that shows us How To Cook Hearty Breakfast Muffins With Time To Spare. These look fantastic and they could add up to significant savings. Who needs the drive-though when you have muffins full of sausage, eggs and cheese. Don’t like sausage? No problem - you can put whatever you want in these so the possibilities are endless. Mmmm!

LONI from Joy in the Morning gives us a recipe for The Bread with the “Secret” Ingredient (Tomato Soup Bread). It looks like a sweet bread, just with tomato soup. She says this bread is good for “fall” and with all those aromatic spices, nuts, and raisins I bet she is right. I think it sounds really intriguing.

Piscesgrrl from Wistful Wanderlust tells us of her adventures with homemade cinnamon rolls in Look What I Did. Who doesn’t like the smell of fresh cinnamon rolls?

Mel from Bean-Sprouts reveals her Soda Bread Recipe that makes a delicious loaf even for “scaredy-cat” bakers. I love easy and forgiving breads - perhaps because I’m still pretty new to baking.

Craft It!

*Michelle from Scribbit - A Blog About Motherhood in Alaska explains how she makes the cutest Knitted Halloween Spiders. They are adorable and you can make them yourself, provided you can knit. I have no idea how to knit but it is on my list of things I want to learn how to do someday. It would be nice to have the ability to create wonderful decorations like these.

*Karen from Little Fun; Little Learning presents some wonderful art activities for preschoolers in her post Fun-Filled Friday: More Fall Stuff. These inexpensive art projects are perfect for little ones. The variety is interesting and will likely keep busy bodies entertained. It seems the best art project ideas just take a little creativity rather than money.

Lori from I Will Learn to Sew stays true to her name by creating an awesome Thomas Tote Bag. She said she was able to make this tote for under $4. It’s a gift that’s personalized, functional, and homemade. She included instructional details for those of you who want to try your hand at this project.

Summer from Creative Mom Cafe pays homage to the 80’s with One Funky Shirt On The Fly. She was able to make a fun shirt (without a pattern!) using materials she bought on sale from a thrift store. I think it is really cute and the name “Chocolate Monday” somehow fits.

Becca from Unplugging the “Stuff” Machine demonstrates how she made a Vintage Style Cocktail Ring. Vintage jewelry, even costume jewelry can be surprisingly expensive. After some inspiration, she got a blank ring setting and used a vintage brooch to make a beautiful cocktail ring. Very resourceful!

Joanie from Nini Makes shares how she is personalizing her daughter’s birthday in Party on. The homemade party invites using her daughter’s artwork are a great idea! Hopefully she will share more of her party ideas with us.

Annette of Crafter’s Journey shows off her scrapbooking skills in Ballet Beauty. She did a neat trick to make paper beading as a decoration. Scrapbooking is such a creative way to preserve your memories. I hear the materials can get quite pricey so making your own decorative touches like Annette did is bound to save money.

Next week, HowToMe will be hosting the next edition of MIFS. Pick out your best homemade marvel and submit it here. Thanks for visiting!

When Saying No Helps Your Family

How can I retire now? I’ve been pretty busy here the last couple of weeks. Between packing the old house up in anticipation of our move, I’ve also had to do some work-related travel. Needless to say I need to get some more time to catch up.

I multi-tasked today, and spent some time doing work around the house while I called some family and friends. Multi-tasking is great, and I always feel more productive when I find a way I can do it easily.

I had a quick chat with a good friend who told me a disturbing story. His wife’s grandparents have spent all of their retirement savings. They have many years left, and not a lot of money with which to live.

The problem on their part wasn’t poor planning. It has to do with some unscrupulous family members who have taken advantage of their elderly grandparents. This story really upset me.

For a little background, my friend’s aunt has had a history of living a hard-partying lifestyle. Her hard-partying ways have made it difficult for her to keep a job, and her children’s father has been in jail for some time. She has very little money, and is not doing much to improve her situation. She has been “borrowing money” from the grandparents to support her lifestyle. In essence, she’s been stealing their retirement funds.

It gets worse. When she decided that having her children live with her was too expensive, she dumped them on the grandparents. These children appear to have learned some bad habits from their mother as they have also been taking advantage of their grandparents. Even as they have grown into adulthood, they are still using their grandparents to support their lifestyles.

At this point, the grandparents’ savings have been depleted, and they have been forced to take out a mortgage on their home (which was paid off) in order to continue supporting their family. Why are they in this situation?

These poor folks just don’t have the courage/desire/ability to say “no”.

Normally I would wholeheartedly applaud them for helping their family. I think helping your family is of critical importance. At one point, this situation might have been about a family in need, but now it’s more about the family’s resistance to learn to live on their own. The grandparents are just funding their grown family’s lifestyles and they can’t afford this. In a misguided effort to help them, they are actually doing harm to their family and especially themselves.

The oldest child is old enough to get a job and move out on his own, but instead he prefers to mooch off of the grandparents and go party with his friends. I feel bad for the grandparents for being in this situation, but they’re the ones that have to stand up and put an end to it. Their daughter (the children’s mother) should also find a job and learn to live within her means instead of living her hard-partying, low responsibility lifestyle.

My friend is extremely angry about this and has been trying to help the grandparents. He has, for years, been warning them about what is going on and suggesting what they need to do to fix the situation. He’s confronted the kids and their mother about what they are doing to the family and to their grandparent’s future. Unfortunately, nothing has improved despite his best efforts and now the situation is serious.

In order to clean up this situation, I think the following things will have to happen:

The grandparents will have to stop supporting their adult family. They need to be taking care of their own financial situation right now.
The grandkids will have to leave the house and learn to be independent. This means getting jobs and paying their own bills.
Their daughter will have to find a new source of income, hopefully by going back to work. She needs to understand that her parents will no longer be able to support her lifestyle.
The grandparents will have to radically change the way they were intending to retire. The damage has been done and their savings is gone. Age-related health problems make going back to work out of the question. They are going to have to pinch their pennies now more than ever.

No doubt these changes are going to cause a lot of strife in the family. The greed and immoral behavior of a few is hurting many other family members who must now help the grandparents financially just to make ends meet. They are also going to have to find some way to ensure they are only helping the grandparents, and not continuing to fund the lifestyles of a few freeloading family members. If the grandparent’s would stand up and say “no”, the entire family would be better off.

Sometimes, when you think you are helping someone, you are really hurting them. This can extend beyond just you, and start to affect the others you love. In this case, we’ve got grandparents with no retirement, kids and grandchildren who don’t know how to support themselves, and now additional family members have to be involved in order to help pay for the grandparent’s retirement. It’s essential to know when to say “no”.

Photo by pedrosimoes

Reducipe - Baked Penne With Roasted Vegetables

Reducipe
Pronunciation: ri-doos-uh-pee
Function: noun
1 : a recipe that can help lower your food costs in a variety of ways
     a : by scaling back an expensive recipe to be less pricey but still just as tasty
     b : by turning an already inexpensive meal into something special
     c : by using leftovers in creative ways to stretch their use

Eat your veggies! Baked penne is one of my favorite pasta dishes. This recipe ditches the meat and incorporates a ton of good-for-you veggies in a really tasty way. Who needs meat when you’ve got pasta like this?

Roasting brings out the natural flavor and sweetness in the vegetables so don’t skip that step. Taking the time to do roast the veggies makes all the difference in the world. I mean, just look at that photo! Doesn’t it make you want to grab a fork and dig in?

I’ll admit, I’m very heavy handed on the sauce and cheese. Use less of each if you don’t like it especially saucy. I like to make this dish when peppers are plentiful and on sale. Get a variety of colors and it makes the dish really pretty.

Baked Penne With Roasted Vegetables (adapted from a recipe by Giada De Laurentiis)

2 red peppers, cored and cut into strips
1 orange or yellow pepper, cored and cut into strips
2 zucchini, quartered lengthwise and cut into slices
2 summer squash, quartered lengthwise and cut into slices
1/2 pound button mushrooms, sliced
1 sweet onion, peeled and sliced into strips
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tablespoon dried Italian herb mix
Kosher salt, to taste
Cracked black pepper, to taste
Crushed red pepper flakes, to taste
Garlic powder, to taste
1 pound penne pasta
3-4 cups marinara sauce (Ragu marinara is great)
3 cups grated mozzarella
1 1/2 cups frozen peas, thawed
1/4 - 1/3 cup grated Parmesan
2 tablespoons butter, cut into small pieces

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.

On a large baking sheet, toss the peppers, zucchini, squash, mushrooms, and onions with olive oil, dried herbs, salt, black and red pepper, and garlic powder. Roast until tender, about 15-45 minutes, checking for doneness and stirring every 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook for about 6 minutes. Since you will be cooking the pasta a second time in the oven, you want to make sure the inside is still hard. Drain in a colander.

In a large bowl, toss the drained pasta with the roasted vegetables, marinara sauce, mozzarella, and peas. Adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper. Using a wooden spoon, gently mix, until all the pasta is coated with the sauce and the ingredients are combined.

Pour the pasta into a greased 9 by 13-inch pan. Top with the Parmesan and butter pieces. Bake until top is golden and cheese melts, about 25 minutes. Serves 6 generously.

Check out these ingredients - it looks like a lot but it’s mostly different varieties of veggies. Gotta love that!

Ingredients for Baked Penne With Vegetables

Now on to the numbers. What does this meal cost in real life?

Ingredients	Cost	Ingredients	Cost
Peppers	$2.97	Pasta	$0.82
Zucchini	$0.87	Marinara	$1.50
Squash	$0.83	Mozzarella	$4.52
Mushrooms	$1.50	Peas	$0.40
Onion	$0.99	Parmesan	$0.10
Olive Oil	$0.20	Butter	$0.12
Salt & Spices	$0.05	Total	$14.87 or $2.47 a serving

You could make this dish even cheaper by cutting back on the cheese and substituting canola oil for the olive oil. I really like the olive oil in this dish though - it just seems more authentic that way. The original version of this recipe called for more expensive cheeses and after trying it both ways I honestly feel that using straight mozzarella is just fine. It sure costs a lot less and besides, the veggies are the true star of this dish. Enjoy!