Starting Out

[NCGirl]

The most difficult thing for me is the one thing that I know would save me the most money.

Cooking at home. I never really learned to cook and it kills my budget!!

I am a mostly vegan (can't quite give up cheese yet) and for some crazy reason vegan foods are outrageously expensive as convienance foods. I very often buy frozen vegan meals for lunch and often for dinner. They are usually $3.99-$4.99 each. Crazy for some rice and peas/veggies/beans and some spices! I tracked my food budget last month and it was over $400 . And yes, I do live alone and that is for just one person!

You would think that being a vegan that I could eat cheaper but when most of your meals come out of a box then it is not the case at all.

My take home pay: $1500/month

housing: $200/month put into a special savings account for
insurance/property tax (house paid for)

power bill: $125

Internet Phone: $13.25

Internet: $45

Satelite: $25

Pets: $50

Grocery: $400

Gas: $175- I drive 80 miles R/T to work

Insurance on Car $40 put into savings each month

$250/month towards CC Debt

Misc: $150ish

I do contribute 6% to my companies 401K

I keep my temp down to help with the power bill. I hardly ever go out so don't have much entertainment expenses but enjoy my satelite tv. I need the higher speed internet for the internet phone. I have a 10 cents/minute cell phone which cost me a whopping $8.00 in 2006. I drive a 13 year old Camry and keep it up well. My house is VERY small and out in the boonies but paid for.

I made the mistake of running up a large CC debt when I first got divorced but have not made any new charges on it in a couple years. Just paying it down.

I leave home at 6:15am and get home at 6:00pm at night. I try to get in overtime whenever possible. I can not get a second job so that is off the table.

Any advice for someone getting serious about getting their finances in order?

[Jerseygirl]

Your food budget is huge!! I do less than that for 4 (including diapers and formula) Thinking vegan can be easy, we do a lot of meatless dinners, especially stir fry. I tend to cook real meals 2-4 nights per week, then live on left overs the other days. A bag of rice, a box of pasta and a few bags of frozen, mixed, even flavored stir fry veggies are a few dollars and can make dinners for a week, add the bean of your choice and you are nutritionally complete. Find your favorite frozen dinner and try to recreate it at home.
This would save you a huge amount of $. Good luck.

[mom2three]

If I were you, I would try to cook infrequently (the once a month cooking principle) and freeze portion sizes - invest in a small freezer if you have to - it will pay for itself quickly. I also would check out some vegetarian cooking books from the library or see if you can invest in a cooking class. Why don't you ask any vegan friends for their simplest recipes and try them? If you do not like cooking, you also might consider investing in a crockpot and trying some crockpot vegan recipes. Try looking at the site http://southernfood.about.com/library/crock/blcpidx.htm for some possibilities. Have fub getting that food bill down!

[Jill B.]

There are alot of great vegan cook books out there. If you never learned to cook you can learn by reading a cook book. I had a friend's mother who said "If you can read, you can cook." I learned to cook by following directions in good vegetarian cookbooks. After a while, you get a feel for how to do things. Cook 3 dinner dishes for 4 people on the weekends. Freeze them in portion sizes and take them to work with you.

Any of the Moosewood cookbooks are good. Or try some websites.

You can buy canned beans and make some simple bean meals to eat with a salad with vegetables in it. I hope that helps

but other than that, your budget looks good to me. You will have more available money when you pay off those cards. You should put some money aside to save for a new car since you need a reliable vehicle and you put so many miles on it.

[NCGirl]

Thanks you guys.

Actually, I will try the moosewoods cookbooks. They are one of the frozen dinners that I like so much.

I actually made a 3 bean salad tonight out of canned beans. I hope it turns out cause it is lunch tomorrow!!

I have tried allrecipes dot com for some recipes and so far so good. I think cooking several meals at once and freezing it sounds like a great ideal.

I think I have a crock pot somewhere back in the cabinet. I will look for it. Having a good hot dinner waiting for me when I get home sounds like a great idea too.

[i.m.cheap]

After you cook your crockpot meal, freeze the extra in single serving portions. I recommend Tupperware Rock 'N Serve or Heat 'N Serve containers that can go straight from the freezer to the microwave. Another plus is that you won't be adding all of that packaging from frozen store bought dinners to the landfills. Making your own frozen dinners will save you a lot of money!

[Lori Biever-Launder]

When you dig out your Crock Pot, make soup! A pot of vegetable soup will cost about 3.00 for the ENTIRE pot and you can make enough to eat it for two nights and then freeze four or five more servings.

When you make a batch of fried rice, make a double batch of the plain part of the rice. Put the plain rice aside to use in another dish. For example, make stuffed peppers the next night with the rice. it will save both prep time AND money (your stove is a HUGE power user).

If you have a wood stove and use it for heat, also use it to heat things up. I keep our teapot on ours for hot water. You can also heat chili, soup, etc on it. Chili or soup simmered for hours just gets better! Yummmm....

[Lori Biever-Launder]

When you dig out your Crock Pot, make soup! A pot of vegetable soup will cost about 3.00 for the ENTIRE pot and you can make enough to eat it for two nights and then freeze four or five more servings.

When you make a batch of fried rice, make a double batch of the plain part of the rice. Put the plain rice aside to use in another dish. For example, make stuffed peppers the next night with the rice. it will save both prep time AND money (your stove is a HUGE power user).

If you have a wood stove and use it for heat, also use it to heat things up. I keep our teapot on ours for hot water. You can also heat chili, soup, etc on it. Chili or soup simmered for hours just gets better! Yummmm....

[Ani]

I was vegan (before becoming pregnant) and I have TONS of vegan cookbooks. If you want to let me know what types of foods and recipes you like, I'd be happy to share some of my favorites with you. Just PM me.