Put Money in Your Wallet, Not Your Freezer

Mid-August means Autumn is not far away. I like it when it starts to cool down because it means its time for comfort food, or at least my versions of comfort food...soups, stews, stoups, and of course football/tailgating food: burgers, brisket, fajitas, and/or whatever kind of steak you are so inclined to throw on the grill. So how do you combat the rising cost of food, including beef, so that your tailgating parties don't suffer? Talk to your local butcher at an authentic butcher shop, and I don't mean the guy behind the counter at your local supermarket. Buying a hind quarter or entire side of beef can save you hundreds when compared to buying the same thing in your grocery store AND, the best part is you can usually customize your order to get only the cuts of meat you use most. Here is an example of what we did last year and how much money it saved us.

We bought 130 pounds of Black Angus Beef, which turned out to be a small hind quarter, for $260, or $2 per pound. When we compared each individual cut of our hind quarter to local supermarket prices, we would have paid approximately $500. Our package included 25 pounds of T-Bone steaks, 30 pounds of ground beef mixed to order (we choose 90/10), 10 pounds of round steak, and 7 roasts, 3-5 pounds each, including Sirloin, Rump, and Pikes Peak varieties. That resulted in a savings of $240 for us and lasted us approximately 9 months (there are two of us in our household so of course, results will vary).

I know, I know. You have to put the meat somewhere don't you? The answer is yes, you do need space in your freezer and if you don't have the space or think you have the space, this idea probably won't work for you. But, think about this.

A freezer is a one time purchase that will house all of that meat and any more that you will most likely buy throughout the year and in years to come. We bought one for approximately $375 which essentially paid for itself within 18 months when you think about the savings we gained on buying the hind quarter of beef. And, because we continue to stock that freezer year after year, we continue to save money on buying beef in bulk. I also know that more and more people have more than one refrigerator in their household, typically one in the kitchen and one in the garage, so you could use those spaces collectively to store the meat.

If you are interested in investigating whether or not buying a hind quarter or side of beef is for you, here are some things to think about and be sure to ask.

1. How much does your butcher charge to cut and wrap your order? This is sometimes a hidden cost so be sure to ask about it up front.
2. Can you customize your package? Most butchers will work with you to make sure you get everything you need.
3. Will the butcher mix your ground beef to your specifications? Again, most butchers will mix it any way you like, from 80/20 to 93/7 (because for best taste, you need a little fat).
4. Are their any specials? For example, our butcher offers free bonus packages with the purchase of X pounds of meat. While it may not contain everything you always eat, I am sure there is something there you might use.
   
5. Does the butcher have any payment plans? Again, it never hurts to ask. I know one butcher shop that uses 90 days same as cash. I understand that a credit check would be needed for this, but if you can afford it, it is well worth the investment.
6. Does the butcher shop work with any other companies and sell freezers at a discount with your purchase?
7. Ask your butcher if they will sell you one or two steaks before you buy the entire package to make sure you like their product.
   

I hope this post has peaked your interest, and you investigate to see if there is a local butcher shop in your community that will work with you!

Holy Gas Prices, Batman!

Have you seen the gas prices lately? What a silly question! Of course you have.

Have you noticed that they are starting to go down? I sure hope so!

I was actually anticipating this decline because I heard on the news recently that the average price for a gallon of gas would be around $3.50 by Labor Day. Did you ever think you would be so happy to buy a gallon of gas for $3.50? Me neither, but I am now.

So, yesterday, as I was spending precious money on gasoline, driving from store to store to store, spending more money, all the while contemplating if I needed/wanted this or that, I noticed this family of 4: mom, dad, son, and daughter, putting on bicycle helmets and unlocking their bikes from the bike rack located outside of the local grocery store. I don't know why I stopped and watched, but I did. They had ridden to the store together, shopped together, and were on their way home together, all without spending any money on gasoline. What a great idea, I thought to myself, while at the same time realizing how much I wasn't willing to sacrifice to save some money. Was that really me or did I just need a push in the right direction?

The more I thought about what I had witnessed, the more pluses I realized there were. The family was not only saving money on gas, they were spending time together, they were exercising without the stigma of exercising, and they were SMILING and LAUGHING. How fun is that?

Now I realize that not everyone lives in a community or city where riding your bike or walking everywhere is feasible. However, have you even thought about it? Think about how many little trips you take here and there. Would it be possible to plan better to turn your little trips into one big trip, thus saving time and money? Could you have ridden your bike or walked instead?

These are just small ideas that could turn into big money savers with a little planning and patience. You could even lose a few pounds along the way.

I will leave you with this final thought to see what lengths you would consider going in order to save a little money and be good to yourself.

I found a website called 1 World 2 Wheels, where people are pledging to go by bike instead of car. As of this post, the counter on the website indicated that 7,351,164 miles had been pledged to be ridden by bike by 22,341 people, which is equivalent to 7,130,629 pounds of CO2 reduced, 345,504,708 calories burned, and $1,617,256 saved on gas. Just think how those numbers could continue to increase if everyone just pledged to ride a few miles to the store, to work, or to a friend's house, instead of driving.

Oh, the Money We Could Save!
(I know, a little play on words with Dr. Seuss, but who better to play on words with?)

CFLs: Are They Really a Bright Idea?

In late 1879, Thomas Edison held the first public demonstration of his new invention, the light bulb. But would his invention last forever? I think we all know that forever is an awfully long time and with advancements in all fields of technology, even the light bulb would probably get a face lift at some time. If you didn't already know, which I am sure is highly unlikely, there is a Congressional mandate that will ban the use of incandescent light bulbs by 2014. This means that every American will have to swap this for that.


What does that mean for you and why am I writing about it in a Money Saving post? The other day while I was visiting one of my local superstores, I ran across a sale on compact fluorescent light bulbs, otherwise known as CFLs, that are supposed to save you a lot of money if you replace your old bulbs with these new ones.

Therefore, I thought I would see what it was all about. Will it really save money if you switch now since all of us in the U.S. are going to have to switch anyway, unless there is another mandate to trump the current one? There are really two schools of thought on this, of course as there always is, the bright side vs. the dark side.

The Bright Vote

Consumer Reports states that you can save $5 per year per bulb if you switch, assuming that you use each bulb an average of 3 hours each day. And, they remind us that back in 1999, these CFLs cost between $9 and $25, but only cost about $2-$3 today, so it is cheaper now to switch than when they first came out. Additionally, those Go Green types, which I admire and wish I was more like, state that lighting makes up 20% of an average electric bill. Further, they say that the CFLs will pay for themselves because each bulb saves over $30 for the lifetime of the bulb and they last 10 times longer and use 2/3 less energy than standard light bulbs. Another source reveals that if every home in the U.S. would swap out just one light bulb for a CFL, it would eliminate the emission of 90 million pounds of greenhouse gases which equates to taking 7.5 million cars off our highways and preserve the amount of energy to light 2.5 to 3 million homes over 1 year, equating to more than $600 million in annual energy costs. One final source states that using CFLs could save about 500 pounds of coal energy and 1300 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions. These are all very impressive statistics and make me consider rushing out to buy new light bulbs for every socket in my house. You can even calculate your savings with this calculator if you wish. But, before I recommend doing that, let's take a look at the dark side.

The Dark Vote

I'm not sure you need to do anything but watch this short video to find out people's thoughts of the dark side of CFLs.



Again, most of what was said in the video is confirmed by several sources concerned about safety, health risks, and mercury hazards. There is concern for small children and pregnant women when using CFLs in case of breakage, but then again, there is concern regarding pretty much everything for small children and pregnant women, so to me, this is just another in a long list. Finally, there are companies working on alternative versions of the light bulb that will eliminate the mercury hazard, so who knows what the future holds.

What to do?

Typically, I leave you with a recommendation on saving money in my posts, but dare I stray from the norm when it comes to light bulbs? I wouldn't do that to you. I think that for me, the savings I could see short term while heeding all warnings associated with CFLs are worth the switch. I may have to do it sooner than later anyway due to Congressional decisions, so why not? It's like anything else in my life. I probably should already be dead based on the number of sodas, both diet and regular, I have drank and the number of eggs I have consumed in my lifetime, the number of hours I have spent in front of a computer screen, and the number of minutes I have used on multiple cell phones while pumping very expensive gas. So, what's a little mercury going to do to me?

Sources: Consumer Reports, Natural News 1, Natural New 2, It's The Planet! Diodiot, Energy Star 1, Energy Star 2, Get Energy Smart, USA Today 12/16/07, and USA Today 4/21/08.