February's Cheapmama Posts

February was actually my favorite cheapmama month. It gave me a chance to think about spoiling the people I love! It was also an optimistic time. I had just opened an adsense account and saw my ad revenue climbing daily. "Aha," I thought to myself, "I will become an adsense millionaire."

Hardly. I was cut off in March for fraud since the only people clicking on my ads were my mother, brother, husband, and best friend!

The best ideas from February...
-Making homemade tiedye wrapping paper
-Rotari Italian sparkling wine!!!
-Sale chocolates
-Leftover chocolate recipes
-Sending evites to my husband for dates "in"
-The car show

Enjoy!
Thursday, February 28, 2008
The Cheapest of All Romantic Ideas
Write a love letter. This need not be some lengthy, Victorian-style epistle. I simple "I love you" or "I love _______ about you" in your own handwriting (that means no e-mails or texting, people) can get the job done. A full paragraph with supporting details would, of course, be better. Love letters are nice as a surprise and best when given for no particular reason. Let the reader assume you've just been overwhelmed with emotion for him or her and compelled to put your feelings on paper.

There are, believe it or not, websites that will charge you money for love letter templates. This is simply ridiculous. There are others that suggest putting confetti in the envelope. This is simply messy. Someone will have to clean it up.

This website, however, gives a few practical tips and even some vocab for the love letter challenged: http://www.1lovecards.com/loveletters.shtml.

So what do you need? Some decent stationary, a pen, and the will to just sit down and do it.
Posted by Eleanor at 7:31 AM 0 comments
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Wow! Money Back on Everything!
If you have not yet discovered "ebates," you must check it out now: www.ebates.com. Money back on everything you love. It's that simple.
Posted by Eleanor at 3:42 PM 0 comments
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
My Husband's Second Wife
I've told my husband that if he wants to have a second wife, he can marry Rachel Ray. She's financially independent and very busy, so she'll hardly be around and won't drain scarce resources. Besides, she makes tasty food and has made popular what all cheap mamas know: The best stuff is at the bottom of the jar. Coming up with a use for the stuff you can't get out of your pb jar just feels so rewarding. I've been doing it for years. Rachel Ray has some good ones on her website, but here are a few of mine.

Leftover Good Mustard Vinaigrette
Fill the jar 1/4 of the way up with vinegar (whatever kind you want) and the rest of the way up with olive oil.
Chop up a shallot and add it if you have one.
Throw in a little salt and pepper.
Shake.

Leftover Raspberry Jam Vinaigrette
See above, but add about a tsp of Dijon as well.

Peanut Butter/Honey Topping
You can either add some peanut butter to an almost empty jar of honey or some honey to an almost empty jar of peanut butter. Depending on what you do, the flavor and consistency may be more peanut butter or more honey.
Microwave for about 30 seconds.
Mix.
Pour onto waffles or over ice cream or just eat it straight because it’s that good.

And speaking of peanuts, ever have only peanuts left at the end of a bag of mixed nuts?
Thai Peanut Noodles
Boil whatever noodles you have on hand.
Quickly sauté with sesame oil, a tbs or so of peanut butter, a little soy sauce, some red paper flakes.
Add in some sautéed diced carrots, some sliced water chestnuts if you have them, a handful of cilantro if you have it, some cut up leftover chicken and/or shrimp.
Crush up the peanuts. Mix in half. Use the other half to top the noodles.

Bottom of the Coffee Carafe…
I always make a little too much coffee. I usually have a cup or two at the bottom of the carafe. Here are a few things to do…

Make “Thai Coffee.” Add some cardamom, a little sweetened condensed milk and some cream. Pour over ice.

Make homemade Irish Cream. Sorry, this recipe remains top secret.

Make coffee syrup. Add an equal amount of sugar to the coffee. Boil. Then simmer until it reaches a syrup consistency. Pour over ice cream or add to vodka for a “coffee-tini.”

Bottom of the box of chocolates…
I’m just not crazy about caramels. I like the flavor, but they’re too sticky.
Here are a few things to do with your least favorite, but still tasty chocolates…
- Melt into steamed milk for hot chocolate.
- Make chocolate filled pastries by putting them into crescent roll dough or puff pastry. Cut the dough or pastry into a triangle or square. Put the chocolate into the middle. Fold the remaining dough or pastry over the chocolate. Sprinkle with sugar. Bake according to package directions.
- Cut up an add to cookie dough or banana bread.
- Give them to a “shut-in.” Just kidding.
Posted by Eleanor at 10:07 AM 0 comments
Monday, February 25, 2008
Worth mentioning...
My husband had to go to the E.R. He is, thankfully, fine; however, he shared the following with me...

He was sitting in a wheelchair waiting for a stress test for his heart. He had a long wait and eventually thought of Cheap Mama and her blog. He was, like the rest of us, both appalled and amused by the suggestion of wheelchair racing in a hospital. Finding himself bored and in a wheelchair, he contemplated taking a few reckless spins around the floor to see just how fast he could go. He got as far as unlocking the brake and moving a few feet before he looked at the (generally elderly) faces of the other folks on the cardiology floor and decided that the idea was as inappropriate in real life as it seemed on-line.
Posted by Eleanor at 3:19 PM 0 comments
Some good ideas from the advertisers...
I actually love reading my ads and have come up with some semi-romantic diy gift ideas from them. Here are a few...

- The personalized wine label. No reason you can't do this on your home computer. The only thing you wouldn’t want to do is cover up the label on a better bottle. The homemade labels would be best on a decent but not-especially-special bottle of Shiraz or chardonnay.

- Themed gift baskets. It's always better to do this from scratch. Anything fresh with be fresher and all of the items will better reflect the receiver's taste and your style. Look at the ads for some general ideas and go from there. You can get baskets and fillers at A.C. Moore or Micheals. I'm a big fan of hitting the home goods aisles at Marshall's for gourmet goods. A great item that can be a part of a variety of gift baskets (get-well-soon, new mommy, romantic, health...) is the glass-topped carafe. You can order a case of six at http://www.villagekitchen.com/mfg/arc/luminarc/carafe_decanter/carafes_bedside.html.

- Celebrity wines. This is just a silly idea. That said, you can usually find out about a celeb's general preferences and make a gift pack for a star-crazed friend based on them. Imagine a "Miley Cyrus' Favorites" themed basked for a pre-teen.

- Gift cards. You can get many gift cards at a slight discount on E-Bay, www.swapagift.com, and www.plasticjungle.com. The latter two will allow you to swap that gift card to Talbot’s that's better suited to Grannie. My husband and I once bought a $500 gift card for Brooks Brothers for $350, though the deals tend not to be that good.
Posted by Eleanor at 2:00 PM 0 comments
Friday, February 22, 2008
The Year of the Coupon
When date night comes, sometimes we just draw a blank. We may have spent weeks talking about where we’d like to go on our next date, but we end up just going back to The General (our local microbrewery!) for burgers, beers, and buffalo chicken cheese steaks.

My husband and I decided that this was the year to change that pattern. We decided the make this “The Year of the Steakhouse.” Every time we weren’t sure where to eat, we’d go to a new steakhouse. As a cheapmama, I ultimately felt compelled to kibosh this idea. Maybe we will someday have “The Year of the Steakhouse,” but this will not be that year. Instead, I have proposed “The Year of the Coupon.” Anytime we’re not sure where to go, we’ll look for a great deal.

Here are a few tips for doing so yourself…

Go to your favorite restaurant’s website. Many of these have special offers that you need only print up. I just received a $20 gift certificate to Macaroni’s, the amazing Italian restaurant in the Northeast, just for signing up to be on their e-mail list. Visit www.macaronis.net to get the deal yourself. No coupon for your favorite place? E-mail the owner. We recently got 20% off at a Moroccan restaurant just for asking.

Just the other day, I was browsing our local edition of “Clipper Magazine” and found coupons for a number of great local places, including Shundeez (a Persian restaurant) and Dahlak (Ethiopian and Indian food). Visit http://www.clippermagazine.com/getcoupons_myclipper.cfm to get local offers.

And then there’s the Entertainment book. I dedicate this suggestion to my Dad. He was neither a cheapmama, nor a cheappapa, but he went for years only eating at restaurants in the Entertainment book. Look for non-date deals in the Entertainment book as well. We saved $15 on flowers for my mom from FTD and there are coupons galore for local museums, sporting venues, groceries stores, car rentals, and hotels. Because the year is well underway, the books are now $10 off and come with a $25 dining out certificate. You can even enter your zip code for a list of deals near you. Visit http://www.entertainment.com/discount/home.shtml.

Finally, a number of restaurants on Open Table are now giving you 1,000 points for booking on-line (and, of course, following through with your reservation). It only take 2,000 points to earn a $20 gift certificate.
Posted by Eleanor at 9:54 AM 0 comments
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Time to show yourself some love at 50% off...
Nothing says love like chocolate. Well, ok, giving diamonds and pearls and vacations to Bora Bora is probably a better way to say "I love you" than giving chocolate. But, nothing says "I love myself" like buying half-off chocolate in a heart-shaped box and eating it in front of the tv when your husband is working late.

Now thru the end of March is the best time to get sale sweets. Don't just think about yourself, though. Buy a box to stash for a light dinner party dessert or to rewrap on some regiftable crystal you got for your wedding and keep in the basement because it's just not your style. And our friends at Godiva just put a seasonal red ribbon and some Valentine's decorations on their regular boxes. Take it off and you've got a nice Mother's Day gift or Easter treat.

Into something more artisinal than the suggestions I've listed below? Fine. Go to your local gourmet shop and buy away. Their chocolates may not be 50% off. If they're in a heart-shaped box, though, they'll at least be somewhat reduced.

Conflicted by what to do with the chocolates you don't love in the big heart-shaped box? Rachel Ray suggests melting them into steamed milk. I also cut them up and add them to cookie dough.

So ladies, here are a few places to stock up...

Godiva – About 40% off www.godiva.com

Harry and David – Christmas-y things are at least 50% off. V-Day closer to 30% off, but go to your local store towards the end of the week for the best value.
http://www.harryanddavid.com/gifts/store/category-display____gourmet-gift-sales-and-values_shop-by-occasion-all-occasion-gifts_Y_

Target – Anything in a heart-shaped box is 50%, but has already been picked over.

Gertrude Hawk is having their “blowout: - 50% off of Valentine’s chocolate and 75% off of holiday chocolate! There’s an amazing $60 sweet and salty tower for about $16. Buy now to give to your auntie next Christmas. It should keep in a cool room. Or eat it yourself. Now. http://www.gertrudehawkchocolates.com/index.cfm?act=shop_category&cat_id=154&range=1

Big find: http://www.typetive.com/candyblog/item/chocolate_sales_online/
Posted by Eleanor at 12:49 PM 0 comments
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Free/Cheap Valentine's Gifts - Babies and Bathwater
This should go without saying, but there are some things a cheap mama simply won't accept on Valentine's Day...

#1: Overpriced flowers from a delivery service. An ex-boyfriend knew my policy on that and actually sent me flowers on Groundhog's Day instead. Clever move.

#2: An over-priced prix-fixe at a restaurant.

Still, Valentine's Day is a nice concept and we really should throw the baby out with the bathwater. So here are a few suggestions...

From him to her:
A gift certificate for a manicure and pedicure (or similar). Sure, it's been done, but here's how to make this gift good and somewhat original: Call and make the appointment for her and take care of the kids while she's gone.

Pick of the prix-fixe Valentine's menu at her favorite restaurant and make the meal yourself. Bring the kids to Grandma's or serve it after they're in bed. Eat it in the dining room, not in front of the TV. Think of details like candles. And, PS, don't have her watch the kids for 3 hours while you cook. Bring the kids to Grandma's EARLY or invite over a neighborhood pre-teen to keep them occupied until bedtime.

From her to him:
See the above prix-fixe menu suggestion.

Call up his mom and get his favorite childhood recipe and make it for him. Even if it's tuna noodle caseroodle.

The cheesy coupon book, with coupons for an hour of free time, control of the remote for a night, whatever...You can make this yourself. Budget 101 has plenty of suggestions, some of which are cheesy (a lifetime of happiness? please!): http://www.budget101.com/giftcoupon.htm#More_Printable_Coupons!.

Make him truffles using the Organic Valley recipe: http://www.organicvalley.coop/recipes/single-view/recipe/easy-decadent-chocolate-truffles/.

From the kids to whomever...
This is the easy one. Homemade is always better from kids, isn't it?

Have them make their own Valentines. It kills time in the Winter anyway. I love this idea from parenthacks.com: http://www.parenthacks.com/2008/02/valentine-ha-12.html.

Make homemade cookies. No need to brake out the rollers and cookie cutters, unless you want to. Just shake on Valentine's sprinkles. We found a nice selection at Target for $2.

Kitchen Mix Gifts is another great site for coming up with homemade concoctions.

From you to your kids:

I like the coupon book idea for this one. You can include coupons to choose the dinner menu one night, plan a Satruday outting, choose whatever cereal they want (even the sugary kind). Budget 101 has good ideas for this as well.


So what will we be giving and getting? Top secret until Friday, of course.
Posted by Eleanor at 1:37 PM 0 comments
Monday, February 11, 2008
That Tie-Dye Wrapping Paper
So I tried the "recipe" for tie-dye tissue wrapping paper that I mentioned back in January. A bit of a disaster. It is pretty much impossible to unfold the paper when it's wet and almost as tricky to unfold when dry. Not to mention that fact that it's just to hard for a toddler to really do.

So here's my revised version...

Materials...
Tissue paper
Food coloring
Spray bottle with water

Procedure...
Spread towels all over your kitchen floor.
Lay sheets of tissue paper on the towels.
Spray sheets so that they are damp, but not saturated.
Sprinkle food coloring on the sheets.

You can try experimenting with making and unmaking quick folds to spread the color.

It dries quickly, is completely "doable" for a two-year-old, and turns out pretty cute.
Posted by Eleanor at 12:49 PM 0 comments
Sunday, February 10, 2008
Things they love...
I guess romance doesn't have to be all about me. Today we took our son to the auto show in Philadelphia. I have never seen such love.

Most major cities have an auto show, so just google your city and auto show to get more information. Then, go to your city's website to find otu when ther kids' day will be held. Our toddler got to sit in the driver's seat of some fabulous rides and I got to drop hint about the Volvo SUV I would someday like to upgrade to from my old SAAB hatchback (OK, it may never happen, but it makes the Honda Pilot I'll probably end up with look more affordable!). In addition, there were give-aways (!) and several playrooms to enjoy. The tally: $24 for the show, $10 for my train ticket, and about $30 for lunch. We left with a Valentine's Day gift for Gramsie made in one of the playrooms, a ton of car pictures to cut up for crafts, crayons and coloring books, and some really great memories. My personal favortie: my toddler sitting in the driver's seat showing me "where the coffee goes!"
Posted by Eleanor at 4:08 PM 1 comments
Saturday, February 9, 2008
And speaking of wine...
Let me throw out my personal favorite sparklers for under $20.

Piper Sonoma - Brut when you're looking for something dry, blanc de noir when you're sharpening your sweet tooth.
Gloria Ferrer - Same, although theirs might be blanc de blanc, not blanc de noir - whatever, so long as it's not blanc de bland.

Oh, and the Wine Spectator page is not free either. I guess, deep down, we're all $$$$ driven. But http://www.budgetvino.com/sparkling_wine/index.html shows some promise. I will certainly try the Rotari he recommends and asserts is better than Veuve. A bold claim, but one I can't wait to test.
Posted by Eleanor at 7:17 PM 0 comments
Friday, February 8, 2008
Whining about my wine budget
Date night was cancelled last Saturday because my mother was sick. No problem, I thought. We'll just do a cheap date-in. I went to the State Store and was confronted by a $30-ish bottle of Sauternes with my name on it.

$30 was technically a good price for the bottle. It's hard to find Sauternes for less and this was about $10 less than its usually price, still...it was $30 I didn't have.

So here, I will harken back to my 20s - a time when I went from believing that anything that cost $8 or more HAD to be good (oh, college years) to my realization that certain things aren't worth the price. My brother and I once polished off a bottle of DP with a bag of baked Lays celebrating recent job offers. We were underwhelmed.

I was guided into making better selections by the fountain of good cheap wine information - The Wall Street Journal on Fridays. Sadly, but not surprisingly, the people at the WSJ are $$$$$$$ driven. Their Friday Tasting column is only available to subscribers. You can, however, get a 2 week free on-line subscription at www.wsj.com and download like crazy until your time is up.

Alternatively, the far more generous (although perhaps less knowledgeable) folks at Wine Spectator have made their value recommendation available for free. Thanks, guys. http://www.winespectator.com/Wine/Free/Value_Wines/Value_Finder/0,3793,,00.html
Posted by Eleanor at 2:09 PM 0 comments
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
20s vs. 30s
My husband prefers to comment in person. He says that I must get in touch with what I did on dates in my 20s. My 20s were split.

During the first half I dated a med student. We were broke - not "broke, but happy" - just broke. We drove cross country for two months and each spent well under a thousand dollars. Gas was cheap. We were cheaper. We argued like crazy, but never over money. We knew we could get by and that times would get better.

Actually, we did argue over money once. In Key West, I agreed to a $3 ATM fee. He was not pleased. I said, sarcastically, "I guess I learned my lesson." He said, "Good." I should have left it there, keeping my sarcasm to myself. But, NO, I had to be heard: "The lesson was not to discuss ATM fees with you."

During the second half, I went blond and let men take me to every new restaurant in Philadelphia. I was broke, but it hardly seemed to affect me - other than living in a well-positioned hovel.

So, I guess my 20s were full of smoke and mirrors. I lived broke and believed I would someday be rich. I lived rich and feared I would always be broke.

Hmm.

In my 30s I have more than I ever dreamed, including a fantastic husband and two beautiful babies. I also have a budget.
Posted by Eleanor at 10:07 PM 0 comments
I Don't Love This
I don't particularly like the theme I've chosen for myself for this month. Frankly, I prefer expensive romance - trips abroad, fabulous dinners, outlandish displays of affection. I least I prefered it when I was dating and spending his money (whoever he was) did not affect my bottom line.

Times have changed. If you read this, please comment on one inexpensive romantic thing you've done for someone or someone has done for you. I need ideas!

Last night was cheap and vaguely romantic. I sent my husband a free evite (www.evite.com) to a Mardi Gras dinner for two chez nous, made jambalaya out of leftovers and fixed up a few hurricanes. Sort of a free date. No babysitter. No bill to pay. Not nearly as nice as a real date, but not that bad.
Posted by Eleanor at 12:55 PM 0 comments
Friday, February 1, 2008
Cheap Romance!
First, a brief reflection on my food spending. It took close to a month, but I finally brought our food expenses dow to the national norm.

The surprises...
I really had no idea how much we were spending on food. You probably don't either. When you factor in everything you buy, including picking up chips or a bog of cookies at Target or the second trip to the grocery store to buy more milk, it's probably a good $50 more than you think.

You can buy junk, but cooking from scratch is the only way to continue to eat quality food and save money.

The changes I had to make...
I swtiched from organic to hormone-free milk. This saved bout $5 per week.
I stopped buying frozen lunch entrees. This saved about $8 per week.
I bought my produce from a produce market. This saved about $8-$12 per week.
I put in some standing orders from pasta and crackers, etc., at amazon.com. This saved about $5 per week (reflected in the 15% off subscription rate)
I bought formula on sale. You have to check sale circulars. Sure, you'll feel 90 doing it and it may not control where you shop, but...I'm also waiting for a case of free formula. All I had to do was ask my son's doctor! Again, this saved about $3 per week.

But February isn't about cheap eats. It's about saving money on having fun with my husband. Clearly, a more difficult challenge.

Let's start with Philly's restaurant week. Your city probably has one too. $35 for 3 courses. With 2 glasses of wine, you'll still be looking at about a $65 bill, so chose a restaurant you KNOW is more expensive than that.
Pick a place you can't usually afford.

A quick on-line search revealed a restaurant week in Philadelphia, New York, DC, San Diego, Long Island, and Baltimore. Many cities even offer on-line reservations through www.opentable.com.