Frugal Limericks v.2

St. Patrick's day is fast approaching!  One thing the Irish are particularly good at is is making a tastey meal for not a lot of money.  Now that I live in an aggressively Irish part of the country, and I share a home with a person of Irish descent, once a year my house is full of the smell of boiled dinner.

The local grocery stores start selling corned beef out of large barrels in the aisle, and the whole place seems to be hemorrhaging cabbage.  We went grocery shopping the other day, and BF spent about fifteen minutes contemplating whether of not the cabbage would still be good for Saturday if he got it right then.  As much as I hate wasting food (and that's a lot), I had to say to him, "Even if it goes bad, you've only lost $.49"

From what I understand, boiled dinner is exactly how it sounds.  You put corned beef, cabbage and carrots + some flavor agents in a pot and boil it until your house is steamed up and everything smells like cabbage.  Then your boyfriend invites over a bunch of physicists, and they go to town on the boiled dinner while you eat something vegetarian.  At least, that's my experience.  Here's a recipe for boiled dinner from Allrecipes, but you really should have already started brining your corned beef, at least that's what Rachael Ray says.

Now for another limerick!

There's nothing I love quite so much as a deal
It's amazing to get nice things for a steal
Don't get carried away
I often say nay
For my hatred of clutter is real!

Home Stretch

We just passed the eight-week mark in the Newlyweds on a Budget 10 pound challenge.  That means we have just four weeks left to find out who is in the running for the prizes!  I'm really curious to see how everyone else is doing, and I also have something pleasant to report.  Despite the fact that I've been unable to do my favorite exercise (running) for the duration of this competition due to a muscle tear, I've actually lost five pounds.  Unfortunately, I suspect that a lot of those pounds are muscle.  I'm feeling a bit soft these days, but I've also been challenging myself to find other exercises that I can do pain-free and without risk of re-injuring myself.

Thankfully, I've been able to ride my bike quite a bit, and I even went to my first spin class, which was so fun!  I was so jacked up on endorphins when I came home that I convinced myself I'd be able to go running.  That was a mistake. I made it about one mile, and was in agony the next day  So now, I'm just focused on healing, moving when I can and eating less.

Do you spin?  I totally recommend it.

I also watched a movie the other day, Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead (streaming on netflix), which is a documentary about a guy with an autoimmune disorder, who goes on a 60-day juice fast, loses a ton of weight, basically cures his disorder, and then inspires another very unhealthy man to do the same.  It sounds a bit hokey, but is actually really, really interesting.  I've had friends in the past who have done juice fasts and the Master Cleanse where you drink a mix of maple syrup, cayenne pepper, lemon juice and water, and I've always been curious about that kind of thing.  Problem was, on any kind of a fast, I wouldn't be taking in enough calories to support my running training, and I was always training.

Now that I've been sidelined, it might be time to try this out.

My plan now is to see if I can make juice without spending $150 on a juicer.  I have a recipe, and I'm going to attempt to make it using my wand blender and some kind of straining cloth.  If it's not disgusting, I might just be fasting soon.  If it is disgusting, I might try a new recipe.

Has anyone ever done a fast?  What did you think of it?

Frugal Limericks v.1

In honor of upcoming St. Patricks Day, I will be posting a series of limericks dealing with frugality and money.  If you want to contribute one,post a comment or send me an email findmefrugal@gmail.com.

It's fun, promise!

When I was in 4th grade, one of our English class assignments was to write a Limerick, and it changed my life!  I realize that sounds dramatic, but I thought it was great fun, and also that I was hugely talented.  For those who may not have had the same experience, here's how to write a limerick:

It's a five line poem.

Establish the rhythm.

Lines 1, 2, & 5 share rhythm and rhyme patterns.

Lines 3 & 4 share rhythm and rhyme patterns.

Think of limerick structure like a joke. 

The frugal life is the life for me
Sensible shopping suits me to a T
I pinch every penny
Sometimes there aren't many
But I make it all work with creativity

Having Opinions Gets Me Free Stuff?

I've been using yelp.com for a couple years to decide on restaurants, hotels, attractions and the like.  It wasn't until I went to a restaurant and had a truly terrible experience that I started actually writing reviews as well.  I started to get into it.

At first, I just wrote negative reviews for all the places I hated the most.  It was incredibly cathartic.  You want to make me wait 20 minutes for a glass of water?  Boom: one star review beeyotch.

Then, like always happens with me, I started getting feedback from other users, and it went to my head.  Just like Pinterest, where I was completely disinterested until someone re-pinned something I pinned, and that feeling of specialness sent me into a pinning frenzy, likewise, someone on yelp called one of my reviews 'funny' or 'cool' and thus began reviewing madness.

I tried to boost the stars of the places I liked; I tried to downgrade the stars of the places I hated or found mediocre; and I started mentally evaluating every place I went.  I felt it was my duty to give an honest and well-written opinion of everywhere I went, and it seems to have paid off.

Two days ago, I got an email from the Providence yelp head honcho.  I don't know if she's someone who gets paid by yelp (she must), but she's certainly someone who reviews EVERYTHING.  Some of her most current reviews include Alamo Rent-a-Car and the Miami International Airport (which I've flown into and out of, and I was more unimpressed than her).  She said that she wanted to feature one of my reviews on the yelp homepage, but I needed to update my picture first.

Lovely foliage, but disappointing restaurant/coffee selection

Since I'm all about glory, I updated right away, and found out that not only would my review be featured on the homepage, but I was awarded elite status!  What that means, is that local business hold parties where they show off what they do, and they invite yelpers to come along so they'll give them (hopefully) favorable reviews.  There's one in April that's for yelp elite only and a +1, and it includes free feed and drink!

Similarly, the pizza place near my house that's always giving me free pizza, sent out an email recently asking people to review them on google reviews.  Everyone who did so, received a coupon code for free pizza.  You might think this a bit unethical, but certainly people on their email list were already fans, they just put it in writing.

All in all, it's not a bad racket.  I like writing, I like sharing my opinion, I like holding businesses accountable and I like helping consumers make an informed decision.  The fact that I'm now getting (potentially) free stuff, is just the icing on the cake.  Of course, these events may be very similar to those time-share seminars you get talked into at the airport in Orlando (note: even if they offer you $500 cash, do NOT waste your time with one of those things--just walk away).  If that's the case, I haven't really lost anything anyway.

Cue the Hyper Organization

For the next two months I'm going to be filling in one day a week at my old job.  This is awesome because it gets me a little bit of extra cash, I really liked that job and I was sad to leave it, and this way I get to swan in like a guest star doing a short run on a popular sitcom (yeah, librarianship is just like being on tv).

Even though Heather Locklear was pretty much the star of Melrose Place
She was always billed as a special guest--which is what I am now.
Except I'm not a bitch.

This new shift is Thursday mornings, which means that now instead of working 1-9pm Thursdays, I'm working 8-12pm, then 1-9pm.  Plus, that 8am shift comes with a 20 minute commute.  It's all very doable, but in order to do it well, I need to be very organized.

Clothes--I need to make sure that I have my Thursday outfit ready to go Wednesday night.  Usually on Thursdays, I loll around in bed, then pick out something fabulous (in my head).  From now on, there's no time for that!  I need to have a work appropriate outfit laid out and ready to go.  Hopefully, the cat won't take a nap on whatever I pick out, but I'll have to be prepared for that as well.

That's why I have that lint roller

Food--There is no point working extra hours if I'm just going to blow all that money on food.  I'll need to pack a lunch and a dinner, which means I need to get back into the habit of making a largish meal on Sunday that will carry me through the week.  Also, I should probably pack my lunch Wednesday night--8am is awfully early.

Is there anything else I'm forgetting?

And my big plans for all this extra income:  SAVE.  

I haven't added anything to my savings account since December, and I've actually had to take out money to pay for that stupid car repair.  I hate dipping into savings!  I mean, I know that that's what it's for, but I just hate it.

Also, my goal for 2012 is to get my Roth IRA contributions to the maximum $5000.  I haven't even started my 2012 contributions yet because you can still add money to 2011 until April, which is what I've been doing.  So hitting $5000 between April and December will be a challenge, but I'm totally up for it!  I have my direct deposit for this job set up so the money goes directly into my different savings accounts and IRA, and I'm not even going to look at it as income.

We'll call this my rebuilding phase.

Wish me luck!

Olive Garden Link Love

Happy Sunday!  I've been behind on my blog reading this week because I've been feverishly following the saga of Marilyn Hagerty--see the bottom of the page.


From Myths of the Midwest--often, when we get comfortable in a job, we forget how hard it is to find one.  Some people have never had a hard time finding work in their lives; and some intelligent, capable folk flounder.  My grad school buddy Fargo Jones is floundering, and I wish I could give him a job.



Carla at My 1/2 Dozen Daily brought up something that I've never really thought about before: lying to other people about how much money you have.  Sure, plenty of people live beyond their means and act like they're richer than they actually are, but have you ever pretended to have less money so that people won't try to take advantage of you?  I've tried to hide more expensive purchases from my parents before, because I was in college, broke, and they would have (and did) lecture me about charging too much, but lying to your parents is pretty standard (in my case).


John Hamm hates the Kardashians even more than I do!  Swoon!



Have you heard about the Grand Forks, ND restaurant review of the Olive Garden that has gone viral?  This story is just blowing my mind.  Grand Forks is a smallish town about 90 minutes from where I grew up.  It's where we went when we wanted to go shopping or go to the doctor, cause we lived in a town of 1500 people.  Now Grand Forks has an Olive Garden, and Marilyn Hagerty, who has been working for the Grand Forks Herald newspaper for over 40 years, wrote a review of it.  The world has taken notice.  Here it is mentioned on boing boing, she was Hot Slut of the Day on Dlisted, and here she is being interviewed on CBS this morning: 

Frugal Challenge: Gas Challenge

Gas prices, as everyone knows, are going way up these days.  Since it was 66 degrees in Lil' Rhody today, and daylight savings time either begins or ends this Sunday (we spring forward, I just don't know if that's standard or DST), which means that my bike/walk home from work will be better lit, I have decided to issue myself a little challenge.

I filled up my gas tank on Monday for $38, and that was even with $.20 off per gallon because of grocery points.  Now my plan is to see exactly how long I can make that tank of gas last.

If I'm just going from home to work and back, I will walk or ride my bike--no driving allowed!

Thursdays, I'm filling at my old job while my boss is out on maternity leave, so I will have to drive, because it's 20 minutes away.

I'm going to be extra vigilant about clustering errands to avoid extra trips to the grocery store and other places, plus, I should really just avoid most stores these days since I've still car that stupid car bill to pay off.

I do have some meetings and a doctor's appointment coming up, so that's a factor.

I've asked bf to replace the gas that he used to go to his mom's house the other day.

It's a 13-gallon tank, and when I was commuting six-seven days a week, I usually had to fill up every week or ten days. Anyone want to take any bets as to how long I can get by on a single tank?  My goal is to make it to April, but that might be very wishful thinking.

Weekend Reading: Diary of a Mad Fat Girl

Regular readers will have noticed that I've been reviewing a lot of books lately that have nothing to do with personal finance.  That's because I've been participating in the BlogHer book club, where you read a book, write a blog about it, and contribute to online discussions.  It's been fun so far, and I like the books I've read--except for this one.

Upon reading the description, Diary of a Mad Fat Girl sounded like light and frothy chick lit, which is something I enjoy tremendously.  In reality, it was a sloppy mess from start to finish, and I had to bribe myself into reading the whole thing.

Book description from Amazon: Graciela "Ace" Jones is mad-mad at her best friend Lilly who cancels their annual trip to Panama City for mysterious reasons; at her boss Catherine for "riding her ass like a fat lady on a Rascal scooter;" at her friend Chloe's abusive husband; and especially at Mason McKenzie, the love of her life, who has shown up with a marriage proposal one year too late. Ace is never mad, though, at her near-constant companion, an adorable chiweenie dog named Buster Loo.
Ace's anger begins to dissipate as she takes matters into her own hands to take down Chloe's philandering husband-and to get to the bottom of a multitude of other scandals plaguing Bugtussle, Mississippi. Then, she starts to realize that maybe Mason deserves a second chance after all.

Sounds somewhat interesting, no?  Certainly that description didn't sound like a book that would wind up in my personal top ten, but I figured it would be entertaining enough to carry me through to the end.  Then I noticed on the back of the book it says: "A revised and expended edition of the smash hit New York Times bestselling ebook."

You know what that means?  It means that this was a self-published book that likely sold well because it only cost $.99.  And once I started reading it, that was abundantly clear.

Let's start with the first problem, the cover:

The title is Diary of a Mad Fat Girl, yet the legs and ass on the cover are not those of a fat girl.  The main character is supposed to be a size 16.  The girl on the cover, maybe an 8.

Also, this book is not written as a diary.  Why give it that title, if that's not the format?  They couldn't think of anything else?  Does the word mad in the title mean she's insane (I kind of think she is), or angry?

Ok, I can get over that, and you may say I'm bring too picky, but the innards of the book are just one example after another of what not to do.

The characters are not well-drawn-- at all, they're barely described.  The main character, Ace, is incredibly obnoxious and unlikeable, and these friends of hers just turn up with no description whatsoever and the reader is just supposed to figure out that they're been lifelong best friends?

Ace's friend Chloe winds up in the hospital toward the beginning of the book and Ace infers that her husband had hit her.  Ace then freaks out, attacks him physically and winds up in jail.  I'm all for friend loyalty, but when this happened in the book I had no idea who Chloe even was, and I just assumed that Ace is the kind of moron who gets arrested all the time (she gets arrested two other times in the book).  She's one of those girls who may think of herself as sassy, but in actuality, she's just rude.

There's a bunch of intrigue in the high school where Ace and her other best friend Lilly are teachers, but it's not very intriguing despite the author's insertion of steamy pictures, secret homosexuality and inter-departmental sexual shenanigans.  It's just dull.

Ace seems to have handsome men falling all over her despite the fact that she's incredibly unlikeable, and at one point complains about how hard it is to be a bigger girl on the arm of a handsome man.  What?  That's pretty much the only time in the book her size is mentioned, so why does it feature in the title of the book?

Despite the fact that this book seems to rush through everything that happens, it still drags on and on.  Reading 300+ pages took me forever when normally I could read a book like this in an evening.  There are about ten sub-plots, none of them intriguing, and all of which seem to cast our unloveable heroine as a mentally deranged barbarian with no regard for social mores or reason.  At one point, she breaks up with the love of her life because he has a short conversation with a girl he used to date.  Really?  Are you kidding me?  And then she proceeds to wallow about how much she misses him and how much she hates that she had to move back to her home town.  Then she and a friend inexplicably make the acquaintance of an older wealthy woman in town.  Those scenes just read like she was trying to insert a wacky granny character a'la Janet Evanovitch.

Yeah.  These are not people I want to spend time with.

So I do not recommend this book--for anyone, and I will probably just throw my copy away.

Disclosure: I received a free copy of this book and compensation from BlogHer Bookclub, but the opinions in this review are (clearly) my own.

Tagged!

My frequently mentioned friend Melissa tagged me in that internet trend where you tag people and make then answer questions!  I was starting to feel like the loser girl at the school dance--no one tagged me!!  How can  I have so many bloggy friends and remain untagged!?!  It's ok, it's my turn now--and now I have to think of other people to tag--eep.

First, the rules:

1. Post these rules.

2. Post a photo of yourself and 11 random things.

3. Answer the questions set for you in the original post.

4. Create 11 new questions and tag people to answer them.

5. Go to their blog/twitter and tell them that you’ve tagged them.

I don't put my picture on the interwebs, 

but

 here's my avatar!

Melissa's Questions to me:

1. Do you have any silly fears?
I used to be really afraid that I'd never find the baggage claim area when traveling alone, but I don't really worry about that one anymore--mostly because I try to always carry on.  Heh, Keep Calm and Carry On (couldn't resist).

2. What musical group/act changed your life?
Sloan.  They just make me so happy!  Plus, they're unfamous enough that I don't feel like I have to share them with everyone.  Of course, the downside to that is that I live in constant fear that they'll break up.

3. Do you collect anything?

The only thing I really collect is vintage Nancy Drew books.  I read Girl Sleuth: Nancy Drew and the Women Who Created Her a few years ago, and hadn't realized that they actually re-wrote the who series in the 1960 to update it and take out some rather racist (more just dated) language.  Thankfully, my reading that book coincided with the re-release of the first five books in the series, and I've had pretty good luck finding used ones in antique and used book stores.  I also have a friend who has been dogged about looking for copies for me and gifting them at various occasions.  The thrill of the hunt!

4. What is your happiest childhood memory?
Probably our family vacation to Mount Rushmore and the Balck Hills of South Dakota.  We went to Mount Rushmore, did some crazy cave tour, went to Storybook Village, went Flintstone Village.  It was the height of adventure for an eight-year-old.

5. What beauty product do you have to use every day?

Moisturizer with sunscreen.  Currently, and for the past five years, I've been using Cetaphil Daily Moisturizer SPF 15.  I'd like to use a higher SPF, especially since I'm outside so much more, but everything else feels so heavy!  Recommendations welcome.

6. What is your favorite book?

I'm sorry, you must have typed that wrong.  You mean what are your favorite books, no?  No one has just one!  For the sake of brevity, however, I'll just give you a top five (in no particular order):

1. Three Musketeers

2. East of Eden

3. Wuthering Heights

4. Jessica Darling series -#5 (not cheating, it's a series!)

5. Since I've gone slightly overboard listing books, I'll throw in two essays: A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again and Getting Away From Being Pretty Much Away From it All by David Foster Wallace.

7. What is the most adventurous thing you’ve ever eaten?

Considering I don't eat meat, I've actually eaten some pretty adventerous meats.  My thoughts are, I don't really enjoy any meat, but I will try anything once.  I've eaten alligator, moose, octopus and probably other bizarre stuff I can't remember.

8. If you had to be a celebrity, what would you want to be known for?

Writing.  Maybe voice acting, if you can call a voice actor a celebrity.  I hate to be photographed, so I don't know if celebrity would suit me at all, but I do like attention...

9. What movie can you watch over and over again?

Muriel's Wedding.  Sometimes I even watch it in my head just for a chuckle.  Plus, the Australian accents are hilarious.

10. What kind of animal do you look like?
I have no idea.  A cat?  People start to resemble their pets, right?  People who know what I look like, what kind of animal do you think?

11. What would you do if you could be a member of the opposite sex for a day?
I'd probably ask someone to kick me in the balls just to see if it really hurts that much.

And now for my questions
1. What was your biggest accomplishment of 2011?
2. What is your favorite phrase?
3. If you had to wear one color for the rest of your life, which would it be & why?
4. Don't over think this--you're in a coffee shop, what do you order?
5. Are you a do your homework on a Friday night kind of person, or a frantic Sunday night scrambler?
6. What would you do if you could be a member of the opposite sex for a day?
7. What did you want to be when you grew up when you were eight years old?
8. What book have you read the most and how many times have you read it?
9. What would your version of an ideal Saturday be?
10. What is your most shameful indulgence?
12. What was your favorite toy when you were a kid?

 People I'm tagging: Crisa, Elizabeth, Sarah, Danie!
 

Random Thoughts

--I don't know why it took me so long to realize that instead of trekking all the way out to Ikea for jars to store pastas, lentils and other things that I like to have but that may potentially get bugs in them, I can re-use old glass jars from pasta sauce, salsa or other things like that!  It's kind of shameful to admit  had never thought of that before (especially since I compulsively save yogurt containers), but I hadn't and now I have.  If there's anyone else out there who never made that connection--do not feel ashamed!  I just put that bulk nutritional yeast I got at the food co-op in Albany into an old Trader Joe's marinara jar--brilliant!

--I'm super into beets right now, but I'm still scared to actually dismantle them myself.  Thankfully, a friend told me that Trader Joe's has pre-prepared beets that are ready to eat.

I've beet eating beets almost daily, and I am unlikely to stop.  Bed of arugula topped with sliced beets, bit of feta and some vinagrette--OMG.  Plus, they're such a pretty color!

--I had an epiphany the other day while riding my bike.  There's a summertime farmer's market in the park at the far end of my street.  Even though it's a very reasonable distance to run to (2.5 miles), it's always seemed just slightly too far away to walk to knowing that I'll have to walk back laden with heavy groceries.  But I won't be bummed out to put all that fresh produce in my bike basket!  Plus, now I actually have Saturdays off!

--I have barely worn my winter coat this winter, and I've spent more time outside than probably any other winter since I was a kid.  That's weird.  I also haven't worn my new boots yet, which makes me a bit sad just because they're so stylish.

--I'm going through an expensive time right now--one of those phases where the money seems to just vanish.  First it was car repair, then I needed a haircut, then Nike was having a mega sale on the shoes I really like plus I had a 20% off code (this may seem frivolous, but I need good running shoes, and if I can get them 1/2 price--that's a winner), taxes are due soon and I owe, etc.  Just a lot of things to pay for right now. I'm going to try to reign it in without sacrificing fun (I've sacrificed for too long!).  I'm going to whip up some super cheap meals, and drive to work no more than one day a week (unless it's downpouring or snowing).

--My new job comes complete with a very active Friends of the Library group consisting mostly of older, retired people who just love the library.  I had forgotten how much I love hanging around older people.  Every one of them seems to have led a crazy interesting life, and for a bunch of senior citizens, they're lively and highly entertaining.  I was telling one the other day at the Leap Year Potluck about riding my bike to work, "Oh, that's so European of you!" she exclaimed.  This from a woman who is actually from Europe!  Score!

--My goal for the year, now, is to be more European.  I imagine that this will include eating more fatty cheese, drinking more wine, riding my bike more often and living life at a more leisurely pace.  I was kind of hoping to incorporate all those things in my life anyway, but now I have a hashtag for it #moreeuropean. Speaking of being more European, I was telling my stylist (who used to live in Milan) about my new Friends, and she totally wants me to invite her to our next party! 

--This weekend, I'm going to the ballet on Friday, out for crepes on Saturday, and on Sunday, I'm taking a fencing class (Inigo Montoya!).  Even though I just made this new 'be more European' goal like yesterday, I'm totally a success!

Happy weekend, everyone!