The Carnival Review #10

This feels like my life right now We didn’t participate in as many carnivals this week so this review will be a bit shorter than normal. Packing and getting ready for the move has taken over my brain and I simply forgot to submit to many of my usual ones. But the carnivals I did check out are jam packed with goodness!

Here are some of my favorite posts from the carnivals this week:

To Whomever Stole My Debit Card @ Gather Little By Little - An unfortunate story about how someone’s greed affected this family, while on vacation no less.

Great Gifts With Really Bad Unintended Consequences @ Money Changes Things - It never dawned on me that there would be issues surrounding giving small stocks as presents. I’ve never really thought about it. This is an interesting list of well intentioned gifts that have proven problematic.

If I Won’t Use It Frequently, I Don’t Buy It @ My Wealth Builder - My parents used to have a second living room with furniture that was rarely used except for holidays. It only gathered dust the rest of the year. This is a good article about how we should use what we have and not “save the crystal for the guests”.

I want it. You buy it. Any Questions? @ Brip Blap - Don’t find sassy shirts like this very amusing, especially on little girls. I really like Brip Blap’s shirts slogan ideas. Where can I buy those?

Carnivals from around the web:

Festival of Frugality #99 ~ Learning to Be Frugal @ I’ve Paid Twice For This Already - I’m honored that my article on frugality and losing touch was an editor’s pick!

Carnival of Money Stories #33 @ Moolanomy – I must be on a roll or something! I’m thrilled that my article on anniversary gift peer pressure was also selected as an editor’s pick!

Carnival of Personal Finance #125 @ My Two Dollars - My plan to test out our mortgage didn’t make top honors but it was included. Too bad I’m not three for three.

Image Source: StuSeeger

Tightwad Wednesday – Sensible 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.

This week we tested a few more of the “sensible substitute” recipes in the Tightwad Gazette. I like the idea of being able to create cheaper substitutes for the seasoning mixes and soup mixes we use all the time. Let’s see how it went!

Note: Because these recipes were almost entirely made up of spices I decided not to calculate the prices myself this time. I have a fully stocked cabinet of spices so I didn’t have to buy anything new and I don’t remember what I paid for some of these quite honestly. However, I have provided the Tightwad’s estimation of price for this round (I think they may be a bit outdated, though).

Onion-Soup Mix

I don’t think I have ever used onion soup mix but I know many people who say it is a good thing to have around the house. I bought some store brand onion soup mix to taste test against the tightwad version in a heads up challenge.

Onion-Soup Mix from The Complete Tightwad Gazette (p.424)

3/4 cup instant minced onion
4 teaspoons onion powder
1/3 cup beef flavored bouillon powder
1/4 teaspoon celery seed, crushed
1/4 teaspoon sugar

Mix all ingredients in a bowl and store in an airtight container.

To use, add 2 tablespoons mix to 1 cup boiling water. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes. This makes a stronger soup than the store bought mix, so you can use less.

For the taste test I did three things. First, I mixed in some of the dry mixes into a few tablespoons of sour cream to make two dips. Second, I made soups from the mixes according to the directions. Third, I called in my husband to try out the creations in a blind tasting.

Unbelievable! He actually liked the tightwad version better in both tests!

Onion Soup Battle - Store Bought vs Tightwad He felt the dip from the store bought mix had a more pronounced onion flavor but also had an oddly bitter aftertaste. He gave the nod to the tightwad version for the dip and I also agreed with his observations. For the soup we both felt that the tightwad version was better, mainly because it was stronger and the other soup was pretty weak. Several spoonfuls into the test the tightwad soup began to taste too salty. After I cut it with hot water it had a good balance and flavor and was perfect for use as plain soup.

Tips - if you plan on using this mix for a dip I recommend grinding the bouillon into a fine powder so it gets absorbed more evenly and quickly. If you plan on using it for straight soup make sure to cut it with water before serving or it will be too strong.

Here’s the price breakdown from the Tightwad:

Lipton onion-soup mix: $0.99 for 2 oz, or $0.50 per oz
Homemade: $0.33 per oz

This was a good one for us and I’d recommend trying it.

Seasoned Salt

This one was an uphill battle for the tightwad version from the get-go. After looking at the ingredients I realized that it wouldn’t taste like Lawry’s (the most common seasoned salt around here) so it would be hard to get a good comparison. I wonder if this recipe was made to mimic the “Durkee’s” version because they mention it in the pricing. I’ve never heard of it before this.

Seasoned Salt from The Complete Tightwad Gazette (p.423)

8 tablespoons salt
3 tablespoons pepper
2 tablespoons paprika
1/2 tablespoon onion powder
1/2 tablespoon garlic powder

Mix all ingredients in a bowl and store in an airtight container.

Seasoned Salt Challenge - Tightwad vs Lawry’s Well, we both didn’t like it much. I felt the salt was overwhelming and the flavor wasn’t strong enough. Eric tried the tightwad one first then the Lawry’s. He immediately pointed at the Lawry’s and said it was much better. I agreed. I normally prefer Emeril’s Bayou Blast mix (less celery flavor than Lawry’s) but even Lawry’s tasted a lot better to me than the tightwad version did.

I wonder if I used granulated garlic and onion instead of powdered if this would taste better. I feel like the powdered versions give it a chalky appearance and a “dryer” flavor. I also think the pepper should be decreased. It’s not a bad mix but not spectacular. And when it comes to seasoning dull food nothing works like a spectacular seasoning mix.

Here’s the price breakdown from the Tightwad:

Durkee’s Seasoned Salt: $0.98 for 3.5oz ($0.28 per oz)
Homemade: $0.14 per oz

I’d say pass on this one.

Taco-Seasoning Mix

Ahhh, my beloved tacos. I was excited when I saw this one because it gave me an excuse to have taco night! For this challenge we compared the flavor to my store-brand taco seasoning mix.

Taco-Seasoning Mix from The Complete Tightwad Gazette (p.423)

6 teaspoons chili powder
4 1/2 teaspoons cumin
5 teaspoons paprika
3 teaspoons onion powder
2 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder
1/8 to 1/4 cayenne pepper

Mix all ingredients in a bowl and store in an airtight container.

Taco Seasoning Challenge - Tightwad vs Store Brand I immediately noticed that the competition wasn’t fairly stacked. The tightwad mix had no salt or sugar. Surely, those ingredients would sway our votes for the store-bought team. I decided to add some kosher salt to the tightwad mix for tasting to increase the chances of it being considered tasty on its own.

It wasn’t enough. I don’t think it was bad but it lacked that strong flavor that we like to see in our tacos. It needed a boost with more chili powder, cayenne, and cumin for sure. But even that didn’t boost it above our store brand mix. Eric felt the store mix was far superior even though it still needed more spices to improve it as well.

I wonder if the bright orange color of the store bought version influenced our opinions, too. It even looked more like taco mix. I know it is likely artificial coloring but it is hard to resist.

Here’s the price breakdown from the Tightwad:

Old El Paso taco seasoning mix: $4.95 for 1 pound or $0.31 per oz
Homemade: $0.13 per oz

I will say that I like a lot of spice so maybe for those who don’t this recipe would be great. And the fact that it doesn’t include sugar and salt makes it that much better for you.

One of our readers, my15000DollarYear, mentioned that she would like to see less recipe tightwad challenges and more “other” types of challenges. So I dug through my tightwad this week and chose two non-food related tips I could test out. Without further ado…

Stay tuned for next week’s Tightwad Wednesday challenge when I will be testing out:

Reusing old room deodorizers p.378
Unsealing stuck envelopes p. 378

Emotional Purchases: Our Anniversary Indulgence

Tradition can be yummy To say that we didn’t spend any money on our anniversary isn’t entirely true. We did decide at the last minute to spend some money on a treat for the both of us.

Traditionally, the bride and groom eat the top tier of their wedding cake on their first anniversary. We saved ours for this purpose. About two weeks after the wedding I realized it was taking up too much freezer space and said that we would eat it on our first month “anniversary” instead. We would just get a fresh one made if we decided to honor the tradition when we reached a year.

The morning before our anniversary Eric and I discussed getting a replacement topper to celebrate the occasion. In order to stay true to tradition, I contacted the bakery that made our wedding cake and asked what it would cost to make a small round topper like our original cake (without the decorations). It was white cake filled with fresh strawberries and cream cheese all iced in buttercream. Yum!

I knew it wasn’t going to be a cheap cake but the price still caught me off guard. I asked if they sold the cake by the slice but they didn’t – I would have to get a cake made and the smallest one fed six. After exhausting the options on the phone with her I impulsively said that would be fine, and placed an order for the bare minimum to be ready the following day.

When I hung up the phone a little wave of panic set in and I questioned my decision. I ended up calling a few friends to ask if I made a mistake and if I should cancel it. My mother said that I should cancel the order and suggested making one from scratch to save money. Although I normally would have made the cake myself we weren’t having the cake just to have cake. Either we followed tradition with that particular cake or we didn’t need to do it. It certainly wasn’t a requirement for us.

When I chatted with Eric about my concerns I was surprised to hear that he still wanted to get the cake. He said that we weren’t just buying any old cake; we were keeping with tradition for our first anniversary and that should be considered in the decision. He also said that we could make it work in our budget by counting it into food costs. I agreed that it was a lovely thing to do and with my husband’s encouragement I decided not to cancel the order.

This was definitely an emotionally driven purchase rather than a rational one. After placing the order my rational side immediately alerted me that I needed to step back and ask for other’s opinions. Honoring tradition (especially when it is wedding related) can elicit a strong emotional response and I realized I might not be able to trust my own judgment in this situation.

I wonder if this emotional response is what leads “normal” people to buy really expensive wedding gowns, designer baby furniture, huge diamond engagement rings, even costly funeral caskets. I can’t imagine these are completely rational purchases. There must be an emotional component influencing the decision.

To help cover the cost of this emotional purchase my rational side will take the cost of the cake from the grocery budget. That should be fine since we are already planning to limit our grocery purchases this month to mainly the fresh essentials. In preparation for the move we are cleaning out the pantry and freezer so my grocery trips will cost significantly less.

*drool* And boy, is it a good cake! Thoroughly and utterly delicious! The cake is more like eight or ten servings, not six, so we are still enjoying it this week.

Of course, this will not become a yearly thing. It was a $40 splurge only suited for the first anniversary. When you think about what this anniversary COULD have cost us (in gifts we didn’t buy for each other) I think we got by on a dime.

Ok, so it was about 400 dimes, but that’s still not bad! :-)

It’s The Final Countdown!

Yes, folks, this is it! It’s the final countdown!

We have been given our closing date so now we are now in the final stretch.

The big day: 11/30.

So much for Thanksgiving! We had to call the folks to let them know we won’t be coming down to visit and cook. Unfortunately, we will need to dedicate that vacation time to packing now that the closing date is just days away.

Although we were hoping the house wouldn’t be completed until January they appear to have made our home a priority and are getting it done early. I guess we shouldn’t be surprised. They gave us a timeline of 6-9 months and it’s been over 6 months since we signed the papers.

Many people who are building homes complain of there never being workers on site and that the home just sits there. It seems like they had the entire crew in our home every time we drove by. I guess having ample workers on a project can speed things up considerably.

We are nervous now and feel the need to come up with a plan. Just last weekend we finally started the packing process. We were packing in anticipation of the 30-day notice, that unknown date off in the distance. Now, we have to pack “for real” and there is a sense of urgency around it. 25 days and counting…

From a financial standpoint, the first thing we need to do is choose a lender. With the closing date being official it is time to start shopping for a loan so we can get a lock on a rate.

Today and tomorrow we will be on the prowl for several good faith estimates. I have gathered all the information we need to prove our loan-worthiness. I am compiling the following information for our meetings:

Pay stubs for last 2 months
2 years of W2′s
Brokerage account statements (retirement and stock assets)
Bank and ING account statements (liquid assets)
Proof we paid off the car loans

We had already been pre-approved and received GFEs from two different companies in May. Now we have to get real bids for our loans and choose our lender. We have 10% down and want a primary loan for 80% (30-year fixed) and a secondary loan for the remaining 10% (30-year fixed). The secondary loan can be paid off with our current home’s equity once we sell it.

We have decided to get GFEs from:

our agent/loan officer
the builder’s agency of choice (they had the best GFE rate previously)
our credit union
Bank of America
a local broker we found online

We have managed to build great credit scores and pay down our debts so we are hoping to get really low rates on the loans. But with the current lending environment and the crunch on secondary loans we are curious to see how we will be affected. Once we are able to compare the GFEs we will make sure to write about it. It will be interesting to see who comes ahead with the best deal for us.

Now the stress is setting in. I can’t believe it’s happening so soon.

By the way – that video cracks me up every single time I watch it!

Reducipe – The Blue Box Special

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

This is the kind of recipe that takes something very cheap and turns it into something special. On days where we have limited fresh food in the house this recipe is a winner. It may not be as cheap as straight up mac & cheese but this recipe transforms the mix so that you can barely tell you are eating boxed dinner. The Blue Box Special elevates a humble boxed dinner into something more exciting, filling, and palate-pleasing.

Eric loves this recipe and even raved about it to his friends. The trick to making this dish pop is getting the hot dogs really crispy on the edges. That adds a nice texture contrast and makes the dogs extra flavorful. Make sure to use a high quality hot dog if you can. We use Hebrew National hot dogs, they are sooo good and aren’t too expensive when you match a sale with a coupon. I have a fridge full of them from when I was able to get them for $0.75 a package. Good thing they keep a long time!

The Blue Box Special

1 box Macaroni & Cheese mix
Milk and butter for preparing mix (amounts specified on box)
1 package hot dogs, sliced (Hebrew National preferred)
1-2 teaspoons olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
Handful of leftover shredded cheese (Cheddar or Colby preferred)
Handful of frozen peas, thawed
Black pepper, to taste
Garlic powder, to taste
Onion powder, to taste
Cayenne, to taste
Kosher salt, to taste

Bring a large pot of water to a boil and cook the macaroni as directed on the box. While the macaroni is cooking set a skillet over medium heat. Add the oil and heat until it shimmers. Add the hot dogs and cook them until they get crispy on the edges. Remove the hot dogs to a plate.

Add the onions to the remaining oil in the hot pan. When the onions are just about translucent, add the garlic. Cook until tender then remove from heat.

When the pasta is done cooking, drain thoroughly, and put the pasta back into the warm pot. Mix in the milk, butter and cheese mix like you normally would when preparing mac & cheese. Stir in the spices and the peas while the mixture is still very hot. Add in the hot dogs, onions, and cheese, stirring carefully. Enjoy!

Serves 4.

We tend to use store-brand mac & cheese but this box of Kraft was given to us by my mom when she cleaned out her pantry. We noticed it was expired but I still used it. How can boxed pasta go bad? :-)

We also used a handful of Monterey Jack because I was out of cheddar. No biggie, just use whatever cheese you have on hand. Adding the cheese helps give it richness and helps disguise the powdered cheese taste.

Ingredient	Cost	Ingredient	Cost
Mac & Cheese	$0.33	Onion	$0.87
Milk	$0.12	Garlic	$0.05
Butter	$0.24	Spices	$0.05
Hot Dogs	$0.75	Cheese	$0.18
Olive Oil	$0.15	Peas	$0.22
		Total	$2.96 or $0.74 a serving

For the price calculations I decided to use the cost of my store-brand mac & cheese because I didn’t think it would be fair to not count my box of Kraft (it was free). I also used the recommended amounts of butter (4 tbsp) and milk (1/4 cup) to make the boxed mix. You can also lower the cost by using canola oil instead of olive oil. Enjoy!

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