6 Healthy Snacks Under $2

One of my favorite ways to eat is to nosh. I am perfectly content to have a dinner comprised of miscellaneous nibbles and a glass of wine! Below are some of my go-to snack combos that I have priced out per serving using mostly Aldi store prices, since that’s where I grocery shop (you should too if you have one!).

• $1.38: Almonds, prunes, dried apricots (almonds= .62, prunes= .39, dried apricots= .37)   I love this combo. Like a lot of these snacks, I fell in love with this snack as I was doing Whole 30 this summer. Make sure you look at labels before you buy for no sugar added to the dried fruit. Aldi sells all of these items with no sugar added, for much cheaper than other grocery stores.
• $1.26: Banana, nut butter, coconut flakes (banana= .20, almond butter= .62, coconut flakes= .44). A dessert or a sweet snack, this is a great combo to satisfy a sweet tooth without gorging yourself.

• $1.63: Olives, dill or sweet pickles, sweet peppers, baby carrots (olives= .79, pickles= .39, peppers= .28, carrots= .17). Super low-calorie, no prep time required, and satisfying!
• $1.53: Rosemary sea salt almonds (rosemary = .29, almonds= 1.24 – more expensive than above because I eat double when eating these!). I read about this recipe on one of my favorite blogs of all time and I had to try it. She does a better job of describing this fun treat than I would, so just read her post! I love making a big batch of these and having them as my 3pm snack all week with a big glass of ice water with lemon. Makes you feel like you’re sneaking away to a restaurant at work!
• 50 CENTS: Apple, hard-boiled egg (egg = .17 and apple = .33). A classic pairing for me, I eat this combination for breakfast quite often but it also makes for a good snack. I like to peel the egg and then cut it in half and sprinkle a little salt and pepper on each half.
• $1.09: Avocado with olive oil and sea salt (avocado = .99, olive oil= .10 per teaspoon. Simple, exotic, yummy, and filling.

Be thrifty with whimsy, my cuties!

One-ingredient dessert for less than 20 cents!

In the summer of 2015, I successfully completed the Whole 30 (more posts on that to come). During this time, I discovered a divine dessert that I’ve been eating ever since. The best part is that this sweet treat has one ingredient: bananas. It’s not technically ice cream, but I swear to you the consistency is the same and it tastes like you’re eating banana-flavored ice cream. Except that it’s just a banana, so you don’t feel like an obese whale after you finish a bowl of it. Even better is it gives you a healthy way to use up overripe bananas. Simply throw them in the freezer (with peel on) when they get beyond regular eating quality and save them for this purpose.

I usually have to throw my frozen banana in the microwave for 20 seconds to loosen the peel so it’s easier to remove. You could also set it on the counter for 10 minutes or so to achieve the same purpose. Then I throw the banana in my handy little food processor for about 60 seconds and it’s READY. I swear, that’s it. No food processor? You could also use a standard or immersion blender. Or, if you don’t have access to any of those kitchen tools, you could let the banana thaw out a little longer and use the backside of a spoon to mash it to a smooth consistency.

I use one banana and eat it from a small white ramekin, which gives me the illusion of a larger serving because it fills up the dish. Bananas are .44 cents/pound at Aldi, so this snack or dessert costs less than 20 cents.

Until next time, cutie pies!

A Monthly Budget Gives You Freedom

One of the most tangible things I did to improve my personal financial state is to create and stick to a monthly budget. I get frustrated when I hear people talk about a regular budget as a punitive exercise because it actually becomes a very freeing experience once you get your shit together. Most people only use the phrase “I’m totally on a budget right now” when they are talking about needing to cut back on spending temporarily because they’re out of control or they suddenly need to pay back a debt urgently. It always seems to come from a place of shame. But I’m on a budget every single month and it’s one of the most important things I do in order to remain on track and continue to build wealth.

I view a budget as a road map of sorts, for thinking about and planning deliberately for your spending and savings goals. Think about another challenging life category, health – say you want or need to lose weight. Are you going to expect significant results if you pay no attention to improving your diet and exercise habits? Not unless you’re a moron. So, if you want to change the status of your finances, meaning eliminate debt and build wealth, you have to pay attention to where your money is going and attach some discipline to your spending.

I look forward to my monthly budget meetings because (a) I’m a dork and, (b) because it’s a built-in reminder of and motivation towards savings goals and it requires me to plan ahead for that month’s unique expenses. A day or two before a new month begins, my husband and I sit down for 15-20 minutes to discuss what’s coming up and create the next month’s budget. This month, for example, we have had THREE trips. All things planned, and fun stuff, but not free. So, we needed to allocate much more money to the vacation/trips line item than usual. Had we not met to plan out the month, we would have risked spending way more than intended without a plan. There are fewer HOLY SHIT WE NEED TO DIP INTO SAVINGS TO COVER THAT SPONTANEOUS ELEPHANT RIDE scenarios.

We use a Google spreadsheet doc to house our monthly budget. I would recommend this method because you always know where it’s located, it doesn’t require emailing a document back and forth, updates happen immediately upon entry (no manual saving required unless you have OCD), and we can both hop in and out of it at any point assuming we have an internet connection. We have one large document with multiple tabs – one for each month. We also use the space to house some bigger picture plans such as our plan to build wealth (more on that in a future post) and other miscellaneous calculations we tend to make.

The top of our budget includes 3 lines for income – my salary, hubby’s salary, and a miscellaneous income category in the random occasions we’re gifted money or if we sell something. The rest of the budget includes our expense categories:

• House payment
• My Roth IRA
• Husband’s Roth IRA
• Savings
• Satellite
• Internet
• Cell Phones
• Gas & Electric
• Water
• Car Insurance
• Security System
• Dry Cleaning
• Car Gas
• Grocery
• Restaurants
• Bars, Music, Movies
• Vacation/Trips
• House Needs
• My Haircut
• Husband Haircut
• Miscellaneous
• Netflix
• Vehicle Expenses

We do a zero-based budget, meaning every dollar has a spot (even if that spot is “savings”). I’ve been using our Google doc method for almost three years now so I plan to continue doing so but if you’re looking for a free way to get started, Dave Ramsey has a newish tool, Every Dollar. A lot of people use Mint.com, which also provides free software for this purpose.

Quit making excuses and start a monthly budget TODAY. At the very least, start tracking your spending for the next 30 days – I guarantee you’ll be shocked to see where your money is going and you’ll find a quick way to redirect some wasteful spending.

Be thrifty with whimsy, my cutie pies!

How to Improve Your Health While Entertaining Yourself for Free

When I began to get serious about getting out of debt and building wealth in January 2013, one of the hardest things to give up was dining out regularly and mindlessly. Dining out was a fun and easy form of entertainment that I enjoyed. It is also one of the biggest budget busters. I’m not going to pretend I never go out to eat but I have dramatically cut down and now, about 95% of my dining out occasions happen as a way to spend time with others, celebrate something, or when traveling. In contrast, the pre-2013 me was capable of spiraling into a thrice weekly restaurant binge because I was too lazy to cook/grocery shop/meal plan. Or, the most dramatic and frequent rationale of them all: “I work hard – I deserve to eat out when I want to!” SPARE. ME. Most of us work hard but if you have debt and want to build wealth, you have to spend less than you make, and dining out is an area completely under your control.

After I pulled my head out of my anus and stopped the madness, I realized I needed to find a free way to keep busy, especially on week nights, so boredom and/or entitlement would not propel me to seek comfort from restaurants. For a while, I was fine, running on the adrenaline of being thrifty because I was seeing all of my debt being cut loose; that in and of itself satisfied any urge to squander money on prepared meals. Once all my debt was paid off, I needed a new diversion. Enter: the Fitbit. I will pause a moment here to say this post is in no way sponsored by Fitbit or anyone else. I am just really passionate about the change it made in my life.

Last August, I was lucky enough to be given a free Fitbit from my employer. This new trinket channeled my inner mall-walker and competitive beast and motivated me to set some fitness goals. It helped that everyone at my workplace also got one (if they wanted one), so I immediately had a built in network of others doing it. Just like with my financial life, I had a clear fitness goal: at least 10,000 steps a day and of course, BEAT MY COWORKERS. You’d be surprised how little you walk without trying to actively seek out steps. I was averaging about 3,000 steps a day without intentional effort (for me this equals a little over a mile). So, to get to 10K required some effort beyond my normal and apparently sloth-like movement. This realization led to the Fitbit providing me with my new free evening entertainment: walking. It’s free and good for you! Beyond being my new free form of entertainment, other benefits I have enjoyed since becoming a regular walker:

• Weight loss. With no other changes, I lost about 10-15 pounds since I started 13 months ago (my husband has lost about 35 doing the same thing!)
• Exploring my city/neighborhood. Most weeknights I follow the same pathway out of habit but on the weekends, I get super wild and drive to different city parks and other areas with walking trails.
• Catching up. It’s a great way to spend time making calls to friends and family. It makes the walking go by quickly and lets you multi-task. I always use my headset to makes calls  so my arm doesn’t get tired holding the phone.
• Knowledge gained. From listening to free podcasts, I have gained new ideas, facts, and opinions on topics ranging from health to finances to entrepreneurship to technology. There are so many free podcasts available. Favorites at the moment include: A Better Life with Rachel Rofe, Happier with Gretchen Rubin, Serial, Ted Talks Health, WTF with Marc Maron, and Here’s the Thing with Alec Baldwin.
• Clear head. Studies suggest if you need to think of an idea or solution to take a walk and it will come to you. I believe in this wholeheartedly.

I predict that some readers may view this as dubious because it’s not technically free. Fitbits do cost money and so do phones and data plans that will enable you to listen to podcasts and talk to friends while walking. I’m going to assume most people have phones and data plans to support them in other areas of their lives so I won’t focus on how to fund those. But, I do have a few suggestions for funding your Fitbit:

• Check your health insurer’s website. I have coverage from Humana and they have a “Vitality” program that allows you to earn points that you can ultimately exchange for gift cards or merchandise. I lost my original Fitbit and was able to replace it for free using my Humana points.
• Ask your employer if they would consider starting a wellness program and funding staff Fitbits – or check with your wellness coordinator if you already have one. It has been a great way to boost staff morale as we all have our “steps” as a common reference point. We have even instituted a regular (optional) staff walk on Fridays as a way to bond and get steps together.
• Sell something you don’t use on Craigslist or have a garage sale. New Fitbits start at $60 and surely you have $60 worth of crap you wouldn’t miss.
• Buy used. I have not tried this myself but notice they cost about half the price on eBay and Amazon.

In the end, if none of these options work for you, I would still recommend you buy one as I think it will make you healthier and save you money in the long run if you stick with it. Let me know what other good sources of free entertainment you recommend!

Talk to you later, my little cutie pies.

How to Shave 1/3 or More Off Your Grocery Bill: An Epic Ode to Aldi

It’s so appropriate that my first Thrifty Whimsy blog post centers on singing the praises of Aldi as I’ve provided them with countless hours of pro bono marketing services since I started shopping there. As you read this, I want you to picture the words coming from an extremely loud infomercial man who screams the whole time BECAUSE THE SAVINGS ARE UNBELIEVABLE.

It wasn’t love at first site for me with Aldi. I made the mistake of attempting to shop there when I lived in Chicago and left feeling like I had contracted Hep C upon entering. Turns out, that was no fault of Aldi’s, just the general filth created from a rude and overcrowded consumer base. At the time, I didn’t know that in other parts of the world the Aldis have unicorns that greet you with bottomless mimosas and rainbow scented farts.

I will begin with a request to all of the elitest Aldi-phobes: please suspend judgment until you hear at least one fact: Aldi grocery stores are part of the same company as Trader Joe’s grocery stores. I’ve found that when provided this knowledge, it somehow gives people permission to accept this as a viable option. Now let’s proceed with the conversion process.

On to the virtues of Aldi. When I say that our grocery bill was cut by two-thirds, I’m not being dramatic. The same cart full of items at any other grocery store is at least double the cost of the Aldi cart. Our household of two shops weekly when we’re in our routine (not traveling, for example) and we spend $50-70 per weekly trip. Yes, that means we spend $200-240 per month on groceries. I used to spend just a little less than that per week. And, this includes toiletries and household supplies.There are some Aldi items that are such a steal, they deserve to be called out. Back when I was not watching what I ate very carefully (more on being thrifty and healthy to come in later posts), every Friday we would purchase a Mama Cozzi take and bake pepperoni pizza – a FULL SIZED pizza for $4.99. It feeds 3-4 people depending upon how hungry people are. For a DINK household like mine, it serves as dinner Friday night and lunch Saturday or Sunday. Or just dinner on Friday if I’m being honest. There are occasions that I need to go to Walmart or Target for a brand or supply that Aldi doesn’t have such as my shampoo/conditioner, but that’s rare (and I’m still including the cost of those items in the $50-70 weekly total).

I would be remiss if I didn’t give Aldi virgins a bit of guidance here. As a unintended byproduct of my pro bono marketing services, I’ve been reprimanded before for such an obvious oversight.

• Bring a quarter if you want to use a shopping cart. They keep overhead extremely low, which is one reason they can keep food prices low. Instead of paying 7 teenagers to lasso a clan of misplaced shopping carts every 45 minutes, they calmly require customers to rent the cart by inserting a quarter into a clever mechanism that connects all carts. You get the quarter back when you return it. No one is harmed in the process and all parking spots are readily available because this process eliminates the possibility of lazy jackasses who are incapable of walking 10 feet to return their cart post use. This Aldi feature doubles as a low cost pay-it-forward-type of experience, which is welcomed with a special kind of gratitude by fellow virgins who didn’t know about the quarter.

• Secondly, bring your own bags. This is better for the environment and these days reusable grocery bags are frequently giveaways so you can probably find some for free. And, they last! I have 2 that were gifted to me in 2005 and I am still using them 10 years later. In a pinch, Aldi does sell plastic bags for 5 or 10 cents a piece.

Have I converted you? I’d love to hear about your experience in the comments or if you have found anything cheaper than Aldi.

Be thrifty with whimsy, my cutie pies!