Tap Water - A cool refreshing frugal drink

Posted by Debt Destroyer on August 27, 2009

Water water everywhere, but not a drop to drink.

That’s how my wife and I felt when we first moved back to my hometown. Our rental house was right across the street from a creek which runs through town.

A stinky, smelly, slimy creek.

I don’t know if it was in our heads or if it was actually the case, but we could’ve swore the tap water tasted funny. We also thought it was stinky, smelly, and slimy.

Which was too bad because we had recently became big time water drinkers. The tap water in Minneapolis was pretty good, but we used a Brita Filter to make it even better. But this time when we broke out our trusty Brita filter the water was still gross.

So we asked around and it turns out that most people in this town bought their water. My wife gave me grief for not knowing this, but I told her I never drank water as a kid (I was a chocolate milk junkie) and had no idea it was such a problem.

So five years ago we started buying our drinking water.

When we became members of the local natural food co-op, we noticed that they had an ozone water filtration system in the store. So we decided to give it a try.

The water was and still is delicious! The only problem was that I had to lug around these big jugs to get it. We decided to keep a 3 gallon in the fridge, and have two other 5 gallon ones for convenience(unless you’re the one carrying them).

It costs $0.40/ gallon, but we figured that it was worth it for the many health benefits drinking water provides. Such as:

Helps Regulates body temperature
Aids with digestion
Lubricates joints
Helps kidneys flush out toxins
Been known to help with weight loss
And it can give you an energy boost

We’ve been doing this for 5 years. We thought our drinking water problem was solved.

But then my sister posted this video on her facebook page:

Even though we don’t buy much bottled water, the trailer for Tapped scared us because it mentioned 5 gallon jugs might have BPA in them. I remembered hearing about the fuss about BPA in baby bottles about a year or so ago. We ended up switching our son’s sippy cup as a result of all the brewhaha.

But we didn’t think of our water jugs at all.

And of course I watched this clip right after I just refilled 13 gallons. So I guess I’ll check out the store for some non-BPA jugs. If I can’t find any we’ll go back to Tap Water. Heck we might make the switch even if I can find the BPA free jugs.

Tap water is much cheaper(At least that’s what Zach Braf was been telling me).

And since I’m always looking for ways to trim our grocery expense I might have to break out our old brita filter again. Now if I can only remember where I put it.

How about you?

Do you embrace the fact that you are about 2/3 water and drink up, (tap or untapped) or do you hydrate yourself by other means? Do you think “Tapped” is onto something, or should I tell my sister to stop scaring me?

Until next time,

-DD

» Filed Under Frugality, Health

And the Hits Just Keep on Coming…Escrow and Health Insurance

Posted by Debt Destroyer on July 20, 2009

For some reason I love it when the mail is delivered.

I can’t really explain it. Maybe I’m hoping for a message from a secret admirer, the Victoria Secret catalog, or a random check. Who knows?

So imagine my disappointment when on the same day I got not one, but TWO notices that my monthly expenses would be going up. I felt like Tom Cruise in “A Few Good Men” after Demi Moore told him she was coming with him to Cuba.

The first one told us that our mortgage needed to be adjusted due to the escrow account being too low. If we pay the shortage of $208 now, the payment will only go up to $840. If we choose to not pay the upfront amount, the new payment would be $858.

I think we’ll pay the shortage and deal with the smaller increase. That way it will seem easier to swallow. It’s funny…five years ago our payment was just under $780/month, at this rate we’ll be pushing $900 in no time.

Oh well…

The second notice is one we dread every year. Our health insurance premium is also going up. Again. We’ve been paying $664.10/month. Starting in July we’ll be coughing up $759.20.

I thought about going about trying to find ways to lower the premium a little, but with us trying to get pregnant I also don’t want to upset the apple cart either. So I’ll call my agent to see what we can do, but we’ll probably just end up paying the higher amount.

Grrr.

Altogether we’ll end up needing to scrounge up an additional $108 a month.

Luckily for us we just had our daycare bill reduced, so we should be able to handle the additional costs. But it would have been nice to be able to so something fun/productive with the “extra money” instead of just shifting it to other bills.

But that’s how the cookie crumbles sometimes.

I think it may be awhile before I get too excited for the mail.

Ok Happy Rock readers this is where I turn to you to see how you handle these kinds of situations. Do you grin and bear it, tighten your belt, re-evaluate your expenses, or something completely different?

Until next time,

-DD

» Filed Under Health, Spending

The Ingredient Experiment - Save Money And Eat Better

Posted by The Happy Rock on September 1, 2008

On the heels of Debt Defier’s commitment to attempt a cash only month I have a food related experiment that I am doing for September. Hopefully, the Debt Defier has better luck with cash only spending than I did.

I will be attempting to buy only ingredients for the whole month of September. I know that might sound a little vague, but here is the idea…buy only items that are naturally occurring and can be used to make meals. The goal is to cut out things like crackers, chips, expensive veggie burgers, and ice cream to increase my intake of fresh vegetables and fruits while being able to control the exact quality and quantity of ingredients on all the food that I eat.

The main goals are :

To Save Money. Ingredients are cheaper. A box of chips ahoy is $3.50 while you can make a batch of much more healthful cookies for much less, especially if the oven is already hot. A Lean Cuisine is $4.00 but you can make a healthy pasta meal with vegetables that will feed a family and have leftovers for the same price. A Snickers from the vending machine each day costs you about $200 a year plus it will add about 20 pounds if you don’t burn the extra calories. Eating healthier will also save money on medical bills.
Gain Energy. With the reduction of simple processed carbohydrates and sugars and increasing more healthful foods I will should feel better rested and have more energy. The food we ate is closely connected to our physical nature. I have noticed a large increase in energy and motivation as my eating habits have migrating to a much healthier diet over the years. I can now see the effects of a loose eating weekend and how it affects my overall energy and even my sleep. Hopefully there isn’t a major detox period from all the snacks and sugar. So far the psychological need to snack is the biggest hurdle.
Promote Healthy Habits. Treat my body better in order to improve overall healthfulness. Also changes like this tend to inspire other healthy changes like more physical activity. I hope to pick up with the 100 push up challenge were I got side tracked. Energy, rest, and health also contribute to overall happiness.
Encourage More Experimentation. Experiments keep you on your toes. They make life and change exciting without a long term commitment in case you don’t like the experiments outcome. Experimentation also breeds more willingness to change.

With that said the experiment will have to be a little vague, because I can’t anticipate the full range of ramifications. I will try and adhere to the guidelines and the spirit of the experiment as much as possible and make executive decisions as I go. I know ingredients for some are prepackaged food for others. Things like bread and pasta can be made at home, but for most they would count them as ingredients. For me, for now, they are ingredients as they don’t constitute a ready to ate food/meal. Maybe I will try my hand at baking my own bread, but for now I found to focus on the low hanging fruit like vending machines at work, expensive frozen foods, protein bars, etc. Anyone feel inspired to embark on a similar journey?

For those that want a crazy challenge The Happy Rockette is attempting a 100% raw vegan diet for the month of September. I wasn’t quite ready for the type of discipline needed for full raw foodism, but I am interested to see if The Rockette gets the reported major improvements in mental clarity, weight loss, energy boosts, libido burst, other overall health benefits. She isn’t planning a life long switch, since from her professional opinion(Registered Dietitian) it isn’t a sustainable lifestyle, but I love her willingness to try an extreme experiment!

» Filed Under Energy, Experiments, Food, Health

Sleep Your Way To Better Finances

Posted by The Happy Rock on April 25, 2008

With the car breaking down on Sunday and still having a ton of work to do for the 149th Carnival of PF, I ended up only getting 8 hours of sleep on Sunday night. I can survive, and ten years ago I wouldn’t have thought twice about it. The thing I noticed for the next 48-72 hours was how much that lack of sleep effected my whole life. I was much more pessimistic, less energetic, less patient, less productive, and grumpy. Since I have been getting fairly consistent sleep for about two years, I didn’t realize how good I felt. I have even felt more energetic and rested since I went mostly vegetarian and have been eating healthier. When we constantly deprive ourselves of sleep we tend to acclimate to limitations on how we feel, how we act, and how much we can get done. Changes, both positive and negative, take a while to show themselves. During that time we easily forget how we feel until we experience something different sometime down the road. Those differences can have a huge impact on every area of our lives, espcially our finances. Below is a list of ways that our finances can be directly affected by lack of sleep:

Increased food costs. When we are tired we tend to eat out a lot more or by more expensive pre -packaged food.
Increased risk of accidents and sickness. This includes driving and normal around the house type injuries. These types of setbacks can cost money for medical services and oppurtunity cost at work and other endeavors.
Lower self control. The lack of control can lead to increased extraneous spending and debt.
Lack of energy and productivity. This means no energy to sell stuff on eBay or Amazon or to invest in other extra income tasks, perform well at work, or invest in budgeting and financial planning and learning.
Lose of creativity and intellectual prowess. Have you been stuck on how to solve a money problem? Well, research shows you really could find the answer in your sleep.
Grumpiness and impatience with others. This means less communication and teamwork in a marriage or with people who can keep you accountable. It means less satisfying relationship which will directly effect happiness and ultimately your wallet.
Pessimism and depression. In just a few days, I saw how quickly my outlook was effected in negative ways. Getting out of debt and having financial discipline isn’t easy and you need all the help you can muster.

So next time that you want to stay up late to watch some movie you have seen 5 times already, play a Wii game, or spend some not so productive time on the internet, remember what it might cost you. Some of you may be thinking that it doesn’t matter how much sleep you get because you feel about the same no matter what. I will tell you that I used to feel the same way, until with the Rockette’s help, I was able to consistently go to bed and wake up at similar times for an extended period(months). I didn’t realize how good I had been feeling, until I didn’t get enough sleep and felt like my old self again. If you are getting around 8 hours of sleep consistently and you still feel bad, it might be worth having some sleep tests done to make sure there aren’t any apnea or other sleep issues.

There is plenty of research on the benefits of sleep, but I don’t think we even need to go there. In my experience a little experimentation and anecdotal evidence will give us all the ‘research’ we need. Solve your sleep problems and your finances will most likely show a marked improvement.

» Filed Under Careers, Debt Elimination, Happiness, Health, Marriage, Spending

The Vegetarian Experiment – The Happy Rock Goes Veggie In January

Posted by The Happy Rock on January 11, 2008

That’s right, the whole Happy Rock Garden is going vegetarian for the rest of January. I mentioned that I am not fond of resolutions, so here is an example of one way to spark change without resolutions. Experiment! I will track being vegetarian for the month and the associated costs. Updates when appropriate.

I got the idea from Steve Pavlina’s 30 day raw food experiment. Even though his experiment is quite off the beaten path, I am finding his raw food chronicles extremely interesting. Like most things in life there is a path that has gotten me to the point were I am willing to give up meat. I personally love meats of all kind, even Scrapple! I not even ‘doing it for the animals’.

Why am I doing it then? Here is why:

First and foremost I have seen the benefits of eating healthy. In the college cafeteria I must have had 2-3 plates of French Fries and multiple deserts each day. Since I met my wife, I have eaten more and more healthy with each passing year. With each passing year my energy level, mental clarity, and emotional states have seen equally positive results. We already eat vegetarian dinners 1-2 nights a week, so the change won’t be as extreme as you might think.

I have experience a body of evidence that has piqued my interest as to the positive health benefits as eating very healthy. Things like the potential for less colds, injuries, cancers, and weight along with positive benefits like more energy, vitality, sex drive, mental faculties, and a positive emotional disposition. Interesting science data like this chart that compares human anatomy to that of carnivore, omnivore, and herbivore that seems to support that humans are designed to be mostly if not all herbivores. Books like The China Study and Eat to Live are also very intriguing. We even have friends of ours who tried the Eat to Live diet for a while and reported feeling better than they ever had.

Lastly, why not? I am grateful to live in a country that affords me the ability to try out better ways of living. If I miss meat or don’t see the benefits, it is only a couple weeks. The process and the learning will be quite valuable.

We started on Monday the 7th, and so far I do feel really good despite not getting my normal amount of sleep. I haven’t experienced any detox symptoms, which can occur as your body adjusts and purges any unwanted materials.

I have quickly adjusted to eating, and I don’t feel hungry all day. In the past when I have eaten vegetarian meals, they just wouldn’t hold me over for long. I am probably eating less food(calorically) than before and my snacking has changed to fruit.

I will do my best to track the financial side of eating vegetarian, but I am not sure 3 weeks or so will provide enough data for accurate comparison. I suspect the cost won’t be too different, because quality meat is often quite expensive. I will also track my weight, which started at 200 pounds(my highest weight ever). I have lost 3 pounds in 4 days, but I suspect that might equalize in the next week. If people are interested in recipes, leave a comment and I will get the recipes from the Happy Rockette. I will say that having an awesome wife who enjoys cooking is a huge blessing and greatly appreciated. The meals have been extremely interesting and pleasurable, and the meal I ate for lunch yesterday at work was getting lots of attention just from the scrumptious smell.

If you have any questions of comments, feel free to ask away.

» Filed Under Experiments, Food, Health

Vending Machines Can Cost Us 580% More

Posted by The Happy Rock on July 2, 2007

I go to the vending machine maybe once a month. Each time it gets more and more painful knowing that the item is has such a huge markup(I still buy). I realize that am paying for my lack of planning and laziness. Let’s take a look at how much we are paying for convenience.

I compared the price of a couple items out that could be purchased at Costco or Sam’s club to the $0.80 cents that you would pay in a vending machine.

$0.138 cents for Austin’s Crackers - 580% more in a vending machine

$0.226 cents for Microwave Popcorn - 354% more in a vending machine

$0.38 cents for 3 Musketteers - Better, but still 210% more in a vending machine

$0.709 cents for a 20 oz. Pepsi - 176% more in a vending machine at $1.25

Just for fun, $0.0226 cents for gum balls - 1109% more

If you were to buy a soda and a pack of crackers just three days a week, you would be spending 320$ a year. This is almost $200 more a year than buying it yourself. Is $200 worth changing your habits to visit Sam’s or BJs a few times a year? This isn’t even taking into consideration the fact that if we put just a little upfront planning in, we would probably make better choices than a Mountain Dew and a pack of Peanut M&Ms. Some people even take it a step further and capitalize on the situation by having their own mini-snack stores.

Are you vending too much?

» Filed Under Health, Planning, Spending

Eat Less Calories With These Simple Low Cost Tips

Posted by The Happy Rock on June 8, 2007

Since The Happy Rockette is a Registered Dietitian, I have special access to top notch food and nutrition information. Today I will start sharing that fountain of knowledge by introducing the first of hopefully many food and nutrition posts. I hope to even have a guest post or two.

To start we will attack how to cut some calories out of our diets through a few small changes to our eating habits. Rather than attempting fad diets or buying expensive ‘diet’ foods, develop habits that encourage healthy eating for the rest of your life. These were inspired by conversations that I have had with the The Happy Rockette over the years.

1. Use smaller plates - We feel compelled to fill our plates, but the proper sized portion size can look quite small on a large plate. The mental picture that food creates has an effect on how satisfied we will be. The same portion on a small plate looks like a lot more food and will mentally add to our satisfaction.

2. Remember that you don’t have to finish - Remind yourself that you don’t have to finish everything. Fight the compulsion to clean the plate, especially when you are full or don’t like the meal. Try leaving a bite of a sandwich and see how it feels. Take a box home from a restaurant, and have the rest for lunch tomorrow. It can be liberating.

3. Volumemetrics - The idea of volumemetrics is to replace calorie dense foods like white pasta with lower density foods like vegetables and fruit. The next time you make spaghetti, try cutting the amount of pasta and adding more vegetables. The dish will be smothered in sauce so you will barely notice the difference and the overall dish will contain less calories. Here is a reference article from the author of Volumetrics, Barbara Rolls, that goes into some more detail.

4. Drink before eating – Try drinking a glass of water 15 minutes before a meal. It takes up some space in your stomach which will help you to feel satisfied after fewer calories. I have heard that non-ice water is preferable, so that it doesn’t drastically lower your stomach temperature.

5. Have children – Try going out with your son or daughter and order one desert. How much of the desert do you really get to eat?

6. Eat Slower – Eating slower will help you to interpret the ‘I’m full’ signals from your body, rather than eating quickly only to realize ‘I’m stuffed’. For practice, try putting down your fork in between each bite.

7. Know Your Hunger Rhythm – Eat when you are hungry, not because it is time to eat. This usually means planning your meals around your hunger patterns.

8. Don’t skip meals – Skipping meals can cause gorging or snacking to ensue. Usually the snacking and gorging is done on calorie dense food which only compounds the problem. By planning all your meals you help keep your body satisfied, which in turn helps keep you in control.