Making the Decision to Change Apartments Part I

Since we’re still renting we have the freedom to move around if we can find a better deal after our lease is up. We are currently in a nice 1100 sq feet apartment nestled in a quiet neighborhood. The complex has been great for us but we think we can find something that will fit our needs for less money. So Tim and I discussed what was important for us in finding a new apartment and here are some criteria we came up with:

1. Has washer/dryer hookups or comes with a washer/dryer
At this moment we don’t have washer/dryer hookups in our apartment so once a week I load up our son and our laundry and drive the short distance to our apartment complex’s laundry building. Besides the hassle of doing laundry outside our apartment (especially when our son was sick), laundry also eats into our budget as we spend $25-$35 on laundry/month, not including detergent. Since we will have another child in August, I just don’t see how I can arrange laundry around two children’s schedules, or justify paying over $40/month in laundry.

2. Is relatively close to Tim’s job
Since we share one car, a short commute to Tim’s job is worth a little more in rent. In addition, gas prices fluctuate so much that we decided living close to work can help our gas budget.

3. Is in our church congregation’s boundaries
We have made very good friends over the past year in our congregation. We belong to an organized, large church which divides congregations similar to school districts, you are asked to go to church at a specific time in a specific building depending on where you live. If we moved too far away from where we currently are, we would most likley be in another congregation’s boundaries and have to make friends all over again.

4. Is affordable
This criteria is key as we are trying to save money to build up an emergency fund and then save money for a down payment on a house. If we were to stay in our current complex and move to a unit with washer/dryer hookups we would have to upgrade to a townhouse and spend an extra $50/month. We would really like to reduce the amount we spend on rent, not increase it.

5. Is safe
Since we live on the outskirts of a large city, we are also looking at complexes that are in safer parts of town.

6. Space
Space is last on our list, because even with adding another child to our household, you can be creative and find ways to use small spaces. We also know that if needed we may be able to store a few boxes at Tim’s parents.

So here are our criteria in looking for an apartment to rent. Everyone’s criteria may be different and you have to make your choices on what is best for your family. Now that you know your criteria, I will later write about tips on finding an apartment that fits within your budget and criteria.

Short Break

I’ll be taking a short break from blogging. Our son has been sick the past couple of days which means neither of us has slept well, and even though I’m now in my second trimester, I still have yet to gain my energy back. I need to get some rest and put our house back in some order but I will be back.

Spending Money to Save Money

Part of living on one income is protecting your assets and investments, and sometimes that takes cash. For example, we have a nice computer that we bought a few years ago and have used extensively for both household and business tasks, including working with intensive movie software. Lately the computer has been slowing down and we decided that the best thing to do was to buy an external hard drive to free up some space so the computer won’t have to work as hard.

We waited for a good deal on the hard drive but still spent about $75. In addition we also need to purchase more RAM. All in all we will spend about $100 on our computer. Hopefully this investment will take some strain off of our computer and prolong its life, so that we don’t need to buy a computer in the next couple of years while we are working so hard at saving money.

A sound part of any budget is including maintenance money for assets such as your house, car or in our case, computer. I have written about the book America’s Cheapest Family and one of the successes to their sound financial status is preparing for maintenance and emergencies. Yes, at times it hurts to spend money when you’re trying so hard to save, but in the end sometimes the best thing for your financial bottomline is to spend money where it will count and prevent hardships down the road.

Storing Water

Our apartment building shut off our water last night for repairs. Of course we didn’t realize this until Tim used the bathroom and needed to wash his hands. Luckily we just pulled out an apple juice container full of water and Tim could wash his hands.

We have been slowly building up a supply of water, food and basic necessities since moving into our apartment. We do this because our church has counseled us to be ready for emergencies, but I think it’s sound advice for any family. We currently have about 40 gallons or 8 days of drinking/cooking water for our whole family. One day we will have enough for two weeks, but our storage space is limited for now so we stored as much as we could.

Having water stored is handy when the water runs out but also for emergencies that might occur in your area. Bottled water is one of the most important items in any natural disaster but sometimes the trucks can’t get through for a few days. In addition, if there is a limited supply of water the cost may be very expensive. That is where having your own water comes in handy, so you don’t rely on others for your needs. In addition, you may be able to help your friends and neighbors who don’t have water.

We started out small by storing our water in used, clean juice or pop bottles. FEMA has a site here about how to properly store and rotate water, and here is another site with water storage guidelines. Because we don’t buy that much juice or pop and wanted to build our supply more quickly, we started purchasing packs of bottled water. Whenever I could find water for $3.00 for a package of 24 16.9 oz bottles I would stock up and buy a few. These packages are approximately 3 gallons, which makes them around $1.00/gallon.

I have found that I also need to keep on top of my water supply. I was sure we had 45 gallons of water, but when I took an inventory this morning, I only found 40. Which means another trip to the store when I see some bottled water sales.

We are glad that we made storing water a priority because part of being frugal and living off of one income means being prepared and self-sufficient. We know that if our water goes out, the water supply is contaminated or some other disaster occurs we have supplied our most basic needs and could sustain ourselves for over a week.

Our Valentine’s Day

Tim and I celebrated a wonderful Valentine’s Day this year. We kept it simple and the best part was the time we spent together, and the lovely flowers Tim gave me. We decided to make a fancy dinner at home to save on costs. Tim was the head chef and I followed his orders. The dinner turned out wonderful. Since we stayed home we also didn’t need to pay for a baby-sitter. I tried to roughly estimate the cost of our dinner below. I only added the cost of the food we ate, not any leftovers we had. I would estimate that this meal would cost at least $12.00/plate at a restaurant.

Menu:
Stuffed pork chops with apple bacon stuffing
Rosemary potatoes
Salad
Garlic Bread (yes, the top was accidentally burned)
Water

Pork Chops: $3.00
Stuffing with apple and bacon: $1.50
Rosemary Potatoes: $1.00
Salad: $1.00
Garlic Bread: $1.10

Total: $7.60
Per Plate: $3.80

We splurged a little and went out for ice cream for dessert and spent a little over $5.00 for high quality ice cream cones (we still used a coupon). Since we rarely have ice cream it was a delicious treat. Our son (who’s allergic to dairy) was happy to snack on grapes while we enjoyed our dessert.

After dessert, we put our son to bed and watched a movie on Hulu then turned in for the night. Overall, it was a terrific Valentine’s Day and we didn’t blow the bank to celebrate.

Getting Back Into Couponing

So I’ve taken about a month-long break from couponing and CVS shopping, but now I’m getting back into gear. I did my major grocery shopping last week but I went to CVS and Kroger’s this morning to pick up a few other sale items. I was also hoping that Kroger’s would have some mark-downed produce and dairy products. I was out of luck, I guess 8:30 in the morning is too early for the mark-downs to be out.

CVS

Scott Paper Towels: $4.99 (I’ll use them for homemade baby wipes)
Colgate Total: $2.99 each ($2.99 ECBS earned for each) -$0.75 coupon

Total:
$10.99
ECBs earned: $6.00

Krogers

Total: $4.65
4 rolls Cottonelle ($0.43 ea after coupons)
1 box Kroger’s instant oatmeal ($0.65 after sale and catalina)
1 bag Kroger’s 8 oz cheese ($1.05 after sale and catalina)
1 box 20 ct freezer bags ($0.99)

Although I didn’t stock up on any amazing deals I was still pretty satisfied with what I picked up. I plan to drop by CVS again this week and rotate my ECBs.

Storing Bulk Food

One way that we keep our groceries down is by buying bulk rice, beans, oatmeal and flour when possible. We are able to get a good deal on 25 lb boxes and buy them about twice a year which cuts down on our monthly grocery expenses. Since our family and apartment are small we have to be creative on storing food and packaging it to keep any critters out. Here are some key ideas for keeping our bulk food fresh.

1. Right containers
One of the best things I’ve found for storing bulk food items are 3-5 gallon food grade buckets. I can often get these for free by calling around to local bakeries and asking if I could have any frosting buckets they’d be throwing away. They are often eager to give away containers that would just go in the trash. I make sure to wash them out really well to get rid of all frosting traces.

2. Keeping the bugs out
Bay leaves, bay leaves, bay leaves. Bay leaves are a great investment to keeping any insects out of your food. I often throw 3-4 leaves in each bucket of food and have yet to have trouble with insects. You need to be more careful with flour though since flour contains little eggs that will hatch in 6-12 months. One thing you can do to kill the eggs is to freeze the flour for 24-48 hours. Since we just have one small freezer I divide the flour into gallon bags and freeze a few at a time. I also try to use up our flour within a year.

3. Date and rotate
This is the most critical aspect of keeping your food fresh. I mark all of our bulk food containers with the date on a piece of masking tape. This way I can tell which containers to use first and also gauge when I need to purchase new food. If you stock up on cans or other shelf items I would recommend dating those as well so that the cans don’t sit in your cupboards for years.

Tonight we are going to purchase some more rice and oatmeal and I am excited to have my pantry full once again.

Making Orange Zest

Tim’s been coming down with a cold so we’ve been eating a lot of oranges over the past week to boost our vitamin C intake. Since I don’t like things going to waste, I put all of the orange peels in a large cup. When I have collected enough peels, I sit down and grate the peels to make orange zest to use in baking. I then store the zest in a jar in the fridge.

Making orange zest isn’t the only thing you can do with orange peels. You can thrown them in the disposal to freshen up the drain. Or you can put an orange peel with your brown sugar to keep it soft. Dried orange peels are often used in potpourri as well.

I waste more than I like to admit, but one easy thing I can do is save my orange peels for other uses.

Weekly Menu: Potato Soup and Bread Bowls

Here is our menu for the coming week. You can read here about how planning a menu saves us time and money.

Monday: Stirfry
Tuesday: Potato soup and bread bowls*
Wednesday: Lentil/Rice Casserole
Thursday: Homemade Hamburger Helper
Friday: Pizza
Saturday: Tim’s cooking Valentine’s Dinner with pork
Sunday: Roast, potatoes

We will splurge and go over our grocery budget a little bit this week to buy some ribs/roast/pork chops that Marsh has on sale for $0.99/lb. The pork comes in a 10-12 lb package and should give us many meals. We will use some of the pork for a fancy Valentine’s Dinner and then have some on Sunday when we are having some guests over. Even though we’ll go over a little on our groceries, we won’t be dining out on Valentine’s Day which will save us some money.

We may soon be raising our grocery budget by $20/month. Tim’s been burning a lot of calories at the gym lately and his appetite has grown. I also have a growing appetite as the baby gets larger and I want to make sure I’m eating as healthy as I can for the baby.

*Potato Soup
2-3 cups chicken broth
2 cups chopped potatoes
1  cup celery (opt)
1/4 cup onion
1/2 cup flour
1/4 cup butter
2 1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup cheese
1 can corn, drained (opt)
1/4 cup shredded carrots (opt)
1/4 cup crumbled, cooked bacon (opt)
salt & pepper to taste

Combine the broth, potatoes, celery, carrots and onion in large pot and boil 20-30 min or until veggies are tender. In separate pan combine flour and butter and mix together 2-3 minutes over med heat until mixture darkens. Stir frequently to make sure it doesn’t burn. Add milk and continue to mix for 3-5 minutes until mixture thickens. Add milk mixture to broth and vegetables. Add cheese, corn, bacon, salt and pepper and heat through. The soup will continue to thicken as it sits.

This soup is very forgiving and you can interchange many of the optional ingredients.

*Bread Bowls
6 cups flour (I use 1/2 wheat, 1/2 white)
2 cups water
2 Tablespoons yeast (or 2 pkgs)
1 Tablespoon sugar
1 Tablespoon salt
1/3 cup oil

Mix yeast, sugar and water and let rise until bubbly (5-10 min). Mix with other ingredients (dough should be a little stiff). Divide dough into 6 balls. Let balls rise until twice in size, about 45 min. Bake at 400 for 12-15 min.

The Simple Life: Continuing Education-Using the Local Library

My husband and I are both students at heart, even though we’ve been out of college for over a year. My parents taught me the value of an education and books from a young age. My husband and myself might go back to school one day for additional degrees but right now we don’t have the time or money to enroll in classes. So the next best step is utilizing our local library.

For me there has always been something special about libraries. Last night, I went to the library to pick up some books on hold and when I walked in I just felt like I was at home. I think the feeling stems from a deep respect for all of the knowledge contained within those brick walls.

One of the main reasons I go to the library is to educate myself on current issues our family is facing. I have checked out multiple books on personal finance, fitness, investing, cooking, childcare, indoor gardening and many other areas. When my husband showed me our options for hte 401(k) plan I didn’t feel intimidate voicing my opinions because I had spent the time to learn about the basics of investing and the different vehicles you can use.

Currently I am researching safe home and natural remedies for common ailments to hopefully save a few trips to the doctor and prescribed antibiotics unless absolutely necessary. I am also looking at investing in a few basic essential oils to add to homemade gifts, cleaning solutions and basic first aid. With all the products out there I want to make sure that our family is getting the best use of our time and money in the solutions that we find. And that is where books are so helpful.

I have to admit that going to the library now with a 1 1/2 year old in tow is a bit of a challenge. I’ve found that reserving books online and picking them up is a lifesaver. Before my son was mobile I would usually take my time to browse through the different selections, but now by the time I’ve given the books an adequate lookover my son has either destroyed the bottom shelf or has run to the next aisle in order to play peek-a-boo.

Even though trips to the library may be a challenge now, I’m trying to instill the same love of learning and books to our son, so I try to make the library fun. I think it’s working because when we go to the library he knows exactly where the kid section is and starts playing with the blocks while I pick out some books for him. And at home he loves to read books.

Even though I am not currently in school I find great satisfaction out of utilizing our local library to keep informed and current in my life and the world around us. Using the library improves our lives by allowing us to improve our minds—all for free.

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