Freezing to reduce waste

This little tip may seem elementary to some, but I thought I’d throw it out there just in case it’s a new idea for others.

When you have produce that is getting past its prime, what do you do with it?  Do you throw it in the trash?  Or better still, in the compost?  With many kinds of produce, you don’t have to throw them away at all.  You can freeze them to use later.

A disclaimer – No, this won’t work with things like lettuce, or any type of produce that has already melted in your produce bin.  However, there are a lot of things that CAN be frozen.

How often do you have one or two bananas that are too ripe to eat, and you think “if only I had enough to make into banana bread” or “if only I had TIME to make banana bread right now!”  Instead of throwing those bananas away, just peel them, pop them in a ziploc bag or plastic storage container, and throw them in the freezer.  There are other ways to do this, including cutting them into chunks and spreading them out on a cookie sheet until they’re frozen, or actually throwing the WHOLE banana (with skin) in the freezer as one of my friends does.  Frozen bananas are AWESOME in homemade smoothies, especially if you like your smoothies thick like I do.  They also work really well for banana bread once you’ve collected enough.  You just have to thaw them and mash before using.

Another item that I freeze whenever I can is chopped peppers and onions.  If I have a half of an onion or pepper sitting in the fridge for a couple of days, I slice it up, spread it in a single layer on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper*, freeze, and then throw them in a ziploc when frozen.  We have fajitas in my house a lot, and I will admit that I buy the pre-chopped and frozen peppers and onions at BJ’s often.  This is especially true in the winter when prices for fresh bell peppers are high.  If I have a partial bag of those in the freezer, I just put my home-frozen peppers and onions in the same bag to use the next time we have fajitas.

I especially love this method when something is on sale in the summer that I know is expensive in the winter.  Last summer there was a great sale on blueberries at Stop and Shop.  My three year old LOVES blueberries and they get so expensive in the off-season.  I bought a bunch of containers of them on sale, washed and removed stems, and then froze them on the cookie sheet.  We still have a couple of containers left!

Do you have any cool ideas for freezing food so it won’t go bad?

*The parchment paper keeps the food from sticking to the cookie sheet when it freezes.  If you want to avoid using paper, just set a timer for 45mins – 1 hour and mix the items around once so they won’t stick to the pan.

Saving money on “bottled” water

This week’s free water deal at Market Basket really got me thinking about bottled water.

I’ve never really been much of a bottled water buyer because of the element of not wanting to use extra plastic, but I do like the ease of bringing water to places in a “to-go” container.   I used to buy bottles of water and wash and re-fill them multiple times.  Now with all of the scary BPA contamination in the news, I’ve recycled my platic water bottles (including Nalgenes!) and moved to an aluminum water bottle.

Now, the aluminum water bottles don’t come cheaply.  You can find them on www.TheGoodHuman.com for between $15 and about $30.  However, they last for a very, very long time, and will pay for themselves over and over in the money that is saved on bottled water.  The one that I have is by Sigg, and it says “Think Green” on it, which makes me happy. 

To fill my water bottle, I use my handy Brita filtration pitcher.  Again, the filters for the Britas are not cheap.  However, BJ’s sells them in large quantities and often has coupons for them in their monthly coupon books.  There are also coupons occasionally in the Sunday paper, so try to pair the BJ’s coupon with a Sunday paper coupon, and stock up.

Going back to that free case of water at Market Basket…  If I had paid for it, it would have been $3.99.  I refill my water bottle a couple of times a day (which would be several plastic bottles of water), so I would probably go through a case of water every eight or nine days.  The Brita filter can last from one to three months, so when you do the math, the savings add up very, very quickly!

Robinhooding coupons

Something that I love to do at the end of the month is go into stores and “Robinhood” any coupons that are about to expire that I know I won’t use.  This is especially fun when there’s a sale as well because I know that someone will be getting a pretty good deal.   The basic idea is that if I happen to remember to bring the expiring coupons with me to the store, and I happen to remember to drop them off  on the shelf near the item in the store, I’ll do it.  I won’t make a special trip, and if I can’t easily find the item, I’ll give up.

A few weeks ago I had two coupons for $1.00 off of tobasco sauce.  I had already used one coupon and gotten a bottle for myself.  I know I won’t need another for SEVERAL years, so I left the two $1 off coupons next to the tobasco display.  The tobasco was on sale for $1.19, so two people got a bottle of tobasco for $.19 each!  Fun. 

If you hold onto them, you can mail your expired coupons to our U.S. military troops who are stationed overseas.  They and their families can use manufacturer’s coupons only (no store or printable internet coupons) for up to six months after their expiration date.  For a list of places to donate, visit GrocerySavingTips.com.

When you have an extra minute, try to do something useful with your expiring/expired coupons too!

The one where I talk about my undaignosed OCD

This coupon clipping and organizing thing?  Yup, it’s perfect for me because I’m pretty sure I have a (mild) case of OCD.  I love the organization of it.  I love the sense of accomplishment when I succeed in getting an amazing sale/deal.

I’ve always (since I was in college) kept my coupons in an envelope.  It was always an envelope that said something on the outside because I save all of my junk mail envelopes.  They come in handy for lots of things.

You know when a little teeny piece falls off of something and you want to glue it back on?  You put the little piece on the kitchen counter and it gets lost before you can glue it back on.  In the past year, I’ve started putting it in one of my junk mail envelopes and sealing it with a label on the outside.  That way, at least it’s hypothetically harder to lose because it’s bigger.

My grandmother used to use them envelopes to write lists on.  You could even write your grocery list for the week on an envelope and store that week’s coupons inside.

Well, I’ve now outgrown my coupon envelope.  I didn’t think it would happen so fast, but I’ve moved into a binder.  Mine has baseball card holder pages in it.  I’m not thrilled with the system because I have to fold a lot of the coupons, but it’s definitely easier to find what I’m looking for than leafing through my envelope.  I still keep an envelope in my purse with the few coupons that are expiring soon, as well as any BJ’s coupons I have or CVS or Walgreens register coupons.

Most people will not ever – as in ever in their whole lives – graduate to the binder.  An envelope can work just as well if you’re sticking to just clipping coupons for things that you know you will definitely buy.  You can help yourself out by using index cards as catergory markers (i.e. Dairy, Bread, Baking, etc.) and by organizing the categories in order based on the store where you do most of your shopping.

“While I was out” tip of the day

Here’s a great tip to save a few extra dollars in energy costs every year:

If you’re baking something that’s very stable (i.e. don’t try this with baked goods!  They may “fall”) you can turn off the oven a few minutes before the item is done.  Whenever I cook a casserole or garlic bread or something like that, I always try to turn the oven off a few minutes before my timer goes off.  The oven stays about the same temperature for the first 10 minutes or so after you turn it off, and that way you harness that lost energy to help cook your food.  (Just make sure you don’t open the door of the oven during those last few minutes or you’ll lose all of your heat!)

CVS, Walgreens, RiteAid and Target Deals 6/28-7/4

This week, I’m going to send you to the websites that I like to check out for the best deals at these four stores:

CVS doesn’t have many great deals this week, but you can find the best ones at  Common Sense With Money.  You can find printable coupons for General Mills cereals and get a great deal on two boxes of cereal this week!

I may not even go to RiteAid this week because I’m not interested in most of their sales, but in case you want some deals, you can look here: Money Saving Mom or here:  Common Sense With Money

Walgreen’s has a few good deals this week.  If you like Pringles, there have been a couple of Pringles coupons in the paper recently that will get you two cans of pringles for $1.  (Unfortunately, the Fat Free ones are not included in the sale.)  Clear Care contact solution is 25% off, so I’ll be stocking up a little more with my $3 off coupons!  Check out Common Sense With Money or Deal Seeking Mom.

For Target’s deals this week, check out: Common Sense With Money. Make sure that you get the great deal on Edy’s ice cream (if you’re into ice cream and have a big freezer!)  You can get them for as low as $1.33 each when you use the printable coupons available through the link above!  They also have a great deal on Solo “Bare” paper plates and plastic cups.  You can get those for $.75 per package with printable coupons.  They’re also more environmentally friendly because the plates are made of bamboo (a renewable resource) and the cups are made with 25% recycled plastic.  Go Solo!

Freecycle.Org

I used to burn candles occasionally.  Now, I have a new house and an almost two-year-old and I’m not really burning candles so much anymore.

I was trying to clean out my basement a bit and came across a box full of old candles (okay, so maybe I burned candles more than occasionally, because there are a LOT of candles in there!)  I was ready to part with them.  They won’t sell at a yard sale or the Salvation Army, so I put an ad on Freecycle.org.  Many of the candles were new, a few were used (but they’re jar candles, so they’ve still got a lot of life left in them).

The way Freecycle.org works is that I posted an Offer (my candles) and my offer was e-mailed out to other people in my town and surrounding communities who are a part of Freecycle.  They were able to e-mail me to say that they wanted to take the candles off of my hands, and I was able to pick the person I wanted to give them to (the first person who responded, the first person who could pick them up, the person with the best story of why they want my candles…)   Believe it or not, I got over thirty e-mails from people who wanted my candles.

The deal is, everything on Freecycle has to be FREE.  No strings attached.  You can also post a “wanted” ad on Freecycle, which is a great way to get something you might not have the money for right now.  For instance, say your washing machine dies and a new washer isn’t in your budget.  People are always upgrading their washers and dryers, so you post an ad on Freecycle and hope that someone responds with a free, working washer.  When they do, all you have to do is arrange a time to go pick it up and you’ve got a working washer for free!

There’s a link to Freecycle on the bottom right side of my blog.  You do have to sign up for it (unlike Craigslist) but it’s nice to know you won’t have to drive far to pick something up because you sign up for a Freecycle group that’s specifically in your area.

So, my candles were picked up off of my front porch yesterday.  The person who got them e-mailed to say how excited she was to get them, and my basement is a tad bit emptier.  Everybody’s happy!