Cheap Tip Saturday 10/1

Cheap Tip: Frugal Travel Tips

Traveling can be an expensive endeavor. There are a number of factors that influence the cost. Presented below are a few tips and tricks that I have learned along the way.

Airplane Tickets

• Start looking early. This gives you a chance to see what the average price looks like over a period of time. When the price shifts, you will be more knowledgeable as to whether the shift is to your advantage or not. 
• Look at many different sources such as the airline ticket search engines, as well as the airlines themselves. I always thought the search engines would give me the best price but after doing some research, I have now purchased several plane tickets directly from the airline.
• Use airline miles to help pay for your ticket. There are many ways to accumulate and maximize the number, including credit card promotions.
• Do not check luggage. Of course this is not always possible nor do I suggest carrying more than necessary into the cabin of the plane. 

Hotel Room

• Some hotels have promotions that reward you with a free night after staying a certain number of nights. Others, such as Holiday Inn, gives you points that can be redeemed for a free or discounted room. 

Food

• Food expenses can change very drastically once you hit the road, especially if you are used to preparing most of your meals at home. If you are somewhere with the proper facilities, you can prepare some meals yourself. When I visit friends, one my favorite past-times is to prepare a meal for them in their own kitchen. One less restaurant bill to pay and I think it is a lot of fun. 
• Pack snacks. Enough said?

Transportation

• Use public transportation if possible. This is much easier and possible in a metropolis. I suggest doing some research into what forms of transportation are available, maps, and schedules beforehand. If staying somewhere for more than a day or two, a pass may be a great option. With a pass, you pay a set price to use the designated transportation as much as you like within a specific time frame. For example, while in San Francisco Z. and I both purchased a three-day Muni Passport for $21. This pass gave us unlimited rides on the Muni, the streetcars, and the cable car. Just the cable car cost $6 each way! The pass turned out to be a great deal for us.

City Pass

• A city pass allows you to pay one set price for admission into several attractions in a number of major cities. I highly recommend this if you are making your first visit to a city and would like to see its most famous landmarks. Here is a little more information about the City Pass.

Cheap Tip Saturday 9/24

Cheap Tip: Make Your Own Popcorn

The popcorn in the bag, while convenient, is not matched by the cheap price and tastiness of bulk popcorn. Growing up I only knew the delight of microwaved popcorn. I was always slightly envious of my friends who had an air popper. The loud, hot air that could transform jumping kernels into fluffy puffs of popcorn seemed magical to me. Last year, Z. and I bought our first appliance together: an air popcorn maker. I got the cheapest model when it was on sale. Prior to this, $15 seemed like way too much money to spend on something that will perform only one task. Considering we can always get high-quality popcorn at the Market of Choice for $0.89/pound for conventional kernels and when on sale, $0.99/pound for organic kernels (definitely worth the extra money!). When a big bowl bowl of popcorn requires 1/4 cup of kernels, the $15 appliance is well worth the money.

All through college, before I had my precious popcorn popper, I made popcorn on the stove. I would heat a high-sided saucepan over medium heat with a tablespoon or two of canola oil. I would pour my popcorn kernels into the pot. I would place the lid on the pot and leave the stove, shaking the pan occasionally and much more frequently once the kernels start popping. I liked to pull the pan off the heat when there was only one or two kernels popping at a time and there was a pause between explosions. I would keep the lid on for another minute or two because I knew a stray kernel would pop. This popcorn had to be eaten right away due to the oil and would not make good leftovers.

Plain air-popped popcorn on the other hand does make a tasty snack later. Just remember to put it in an air-tight container when it is cool, unless of course, you enjoy stale popcorn.

Variations I enjoy:

• Popcorn and Olive Oil. I love popcorn drizzled with extra virgin olive oil seasoned with some kosher salt. Paula Deen will be disappointed in me. I prefer olive oil to butter on my popcorn.
• Popcorn with Rosemary Infused Olive Oil. Over the lowest heat, warm the amount of olive oil you plan on using, about 1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil. Add one tablespoon dried rosemary. There should be no sizzling; you are just gently warming the olive oil. Allow to steep for 10 or so minutes. Pour the olive oil and rosemary through a fine-mesh strainer, discard the rosemary, drizzle the infused olive oil over popped popcorn, and sprinkle kosher salt over the top. 
• Popcorn with Nutritional Yeast.Nutritional yeast can be found in the bulk section of natural foods stores (or Winco, for that matter). I was introduced to this variation of popcorn by some Eugene-hippies that I was hanging out with. This recipe is all that I remember of them. Nutritional yeast sounds scary but is actually quite tasty with a nutty flavor that reminds me of Parmesan cheese. In fact, nutritional yeast is generally a featured ingredient in vegan cheese substitute recipes. If you are from Wyoming and reading this, please do not let all this talk of hippies and vegan foods deter you from trying nutritional yeast. The picture at the top is a delicious bowl of popcorn with olive oil and nutritional yeast. To enjoy nutritional yeast and popcorn I drizzle olive oil over my popcorn. Then, I add nutritional yeast and kosher salt to taste.
• Ranch-a-Corn. This is not for everyone. Either you love the flavor of ranch or you do not. I, of course, do love ranch. To make this variety of popcorn, you will need powdered ranch dressing mix. For a big bowl of popcorn, made with about 1/4 cup kernels, you will need 1-2 tablespoons ranch mix. Take it from me, too much of the mix is not desired. It is way too easy to breathe the stuff in when trying to eat the popcorn.
• Grated Parmesan or Asiago cheese. Need I say more?

Cheap Tip Saturday 8/27

Cheap Tip: Budget-Friendly Entertaining

One of my favorite past-times in the whole wide world (besides torturing Z.) is to share a meal with others, especially sharing a meal with friends in my home. I almost said cook a meal for friends but Z. proudly does the cooking when we have people over. I contribute side dishes and desert. We have refined the technique of budget-friendly entertaining. Here are a few tips I have learned along the way:

• Try your best but do not stress out (excessively) about how your food turns out. Your friends are happy to be spending time with you and that you went to all the trouble. Besides, if they are like most people, they do not cook for themselves very often and are excited to have a home-cooked (or semi-homemade) meal.
• If we are cooking, our meal of choice is Indian or pasta. Indian food is great if you have to cook for a large group of people; it does not matter if you are cooking for 2 or 8, beans and rice take the same amount of time to cook either way.
• Potluck. I do not know who you are hanging out with but my friends always ask what they can bring. Frequently, Z. and I will provide the main course and desert. We ask our guests to bring a side dish or wine. If you cannot cook, wine is almost universally appreciated.
• Feature dishes or foods that guests can assemble themselves. Each person has their own particular likes and dislikes. Assembly-meals allows guests to tailor their meal as well as be involved. Dishes that lend themselves well to this are tacos, paninis, individual pizzas, and kebabs.
• Crudites. I almost always have a platter of fresh, crunchy vegetables ready to be served immediately when my guests arrive. Veggies are tasty, filling, and can be cheap depending on what you buy. I like to serve carrots (always), bell peppers, cucumbers, radishes, celery, broccoli, or cauliflower, all depending on what is on sale.
• Keep desert simple. I save my fancy deserts for the occasions when I will only be serving desert and coffee. Orchestrating an elaborate desert and preparing dinner can be a little overwhelming for me. I do love serving baked deserts. Nothing is as inviting or fills the home with as much fragrance as baking deserts. Cookies are always a welcome sight for guests. Fruit crisps or cobblers are simple and take advantage of what is on sale at the market or straight from the freezer. This summer I have served plain, fresh fruit several times for desert. Nothing is as delicious as fruit at its ripest at the peak of the season.

Cheap Tip Saturday 8/20

Coupon from Starbucks for a free birthday drink!

Cheap Tip: Use a registered Starbucks gift card.

Enjoy Starbucks? I do too, occasionally, and I make those purchases count as much as possible. I do this by paying for my coffee with a registered gift card. I originally was given the gift card as a present and after spending all the gift money, I reload money to card using the Starbucks website. You earn 1 Starbucks star with each purchase paid for by a registered Starbucks gift card.  Let me breakdown the benefits of using a registered Starbucks gift card and what those stars mean:

• Earn 30 stars and you are rewarded with a coupon for a free beverage of your choice. Yes, of your choice!
• After earning 30 stars, you are sent a gold Starbucks card. This is a very snazzy looking gift card. I have to admit, I am mildly jealous of Z.'s gold card. And, once you have earned the gold card, you only need to accumulate 15 stars to earn a free drink.
• You are sent a coupon for a free beverage to celebrate your birthday. I would never pay $5 for a cup of coffee but I certainly enjoyed celebrating with a venti coconut mocha with whipped cream and caramel drizzle.
• During your visit, you may receive free brewed coffee or tea refills.
• Free selected syrups and milk choices
• Purchase 1 pound of whole beans using your registered card, you will receive tall beverage of your choice. Remember, on most packages of Starbucks coffee, there is a promotion where you can bring in your empty bag and receive a free cup of brewed coffee.
• Log into the Starbucks rewards website and you can easily load more money to your gift card, register a new card, or see how many stars you have accumulated.

Here is a little more information about the program and here is where you go to register your card. Enjoy!

Cheap Tip Saturday 8/13

Cheap Tip: Organize those coupons.

As I have evolved from occasionally using coupons to being a coupon maniac, my system of organizing has also evolved. Here are a few things I have learned along the way:

• Couponing is not for everyone. Despite how awesome I think using coupons is, not everyone shares my excitement and that is okay.
• Find a container to hold your coupons. For me, this means several containers. I have the plastic accordion file that I carry to the store. I clip any coupons that I know I will most likely use or frequently go on sale and put them in the file right away. I also have a bin where any other coupons collect that I can always hide away somewhere. 
• File those coupons. The filing process can be different for each person. I have found some folks who prefer to organize their coupons by types, by expiration dates, or by grocery store aisles. I like to organize alphabetically. 
• Don't forget to sort through them and recycle the expired coupons. Proctor & Gamble makes it easy. Their coupons expire the last day of each month.
• Write the date on the front of the insert. This tip has taken me a long time to finally embrace. I do not clip all the coupons out and hold on to the whole insert, so by having the date on it, if I find a tip on a couponing blog I can find the specific insert. Enjoy!

Cheap Tip Saturday 8/6

Cheap Tip: Use coupons to stock your pantry with nonperishable lunch-box items.

Last fall, Z. and I came up with the idea to designate a bin solely to hold any items I accumulated that were meant for my lunches. Pictured are the items that I have accumulated this summer with the bin behind. I only paid $5.71 for all of these goodies. The apricots were the most expensive part at $1 a bag.

Stocking up on non-perishables that you will use for lunch and keep in their own designated place works great for a number of reasons:

• Packing your lunch and bringing plenty of snacks with you to work or school rather than eating out is a great way to save lots of money.
• Many coupons are available for snacks, crackers, snack bars, or other items that would travel well. I stock up on these when I can. Most of the time, these are not items I would go out of my way to buy. But including these snacks in my lunches has saved me quite a bit. I also appreciate the variety my the snacks gives my lunches.
• I find that with my budget and the time I can dedicate to couponing, $0.20 per serving is my cut-off for my coupon snacks. This leaves room in my lunch budget for more costly items like yogurt and fresh fruit. 
• By storing the stocked-up  lunch box items in their own special place, the likelihood that they will make it my lunch increases.
• We picked a bin on purpose. I can always easily see what is in the bin. I do not have to clear off a whole shelf to see what might be hiding in the back.
• Because these items are nonperishable, I suggest stocking up when you can combine sales with coupons and other promotions. I have been thinking about sharing my lunch bin idea for quite some time because after months of an empty bin, I have refilled it with a variety of goodies.