Save Money While Cooking Rice

As Filipinos, our diet has too much rice.

We eat it almost 3 times a day, even more for some.

So how can cooking rice help us save money?

By not throwing away the water we wash the rice with!

Usually, rice is washed at least 3 times before cooking it. After each wash, I place the water in a pail and use it for something else for later.

Here are some ideas on where to use rice water:

1. For watering the plants.

2. For your dog's drinking water. It's clean enough, don't worry...

3. For cleaning gardening tools.

4. As a facial toner. Yup, you read it right, I was able to watch this tip in a japanese-english channel last year. They said that Sake handlers have very smooth skin hence the conclusion that rice water is good for the skin. Just wash your face with your normal facial wash, then rinse your face with the rice water. You have to be patient with this one since results don't show immediately. But as per my personal experience, it does help in giving you smooth skin.

Money saved for this tip: at least Php 100 a month on your water bill, and another Php 100 a month on your beauty bill!

That translates to Php 2400 in a year, not bad for rice water huh.

Recycling Plastic Utensils

Whenever we buy take-out or have food delivered, I noticed that the restaurant or fast food gives us a lot of plastic eating utensils.

We really don't have use for them since we're gonna eat the food at home where we have our own eating utensils.

I hate throwing plastic since it just ends up in the landfill for a long time. So I kept these utensils in another plastic container (I'm really big on recycling!).

Before I knew it, I had enough utensils to be used by a small army (okay, exaggerating here)!

But anyway, I've come up with some things on how to recycle these plastic utensils:

1. On picnics. We often go on an unplanned picnic every so often. And whenever we do, I just bring these plastic utensils so that we wouldn't have so much stuff to bring back home. I just make sure that I throw the used plastic utensils in the recycling bin of the vicinity.

2. During parties. Instead of buying new plastic eating utensils for your party, why not use the unused fast food plastic eating utensils instead? It can save you around Php 200. You can use that money to buy additional food or favors for your party.

3. For packed-lunches. I pack My S lunch to bring to work everyday, along with that goes a plastic spoon & fork that he can use. You can do the same.

4. As plant support. My mom-in-law is really into gardening. And when one of her seedlings are a little bit droopy, she uses a plastic spoon as a supporter.

5. As a coffee stirrer at work. If you are into coffee or hot chocolate during your shift, keep one plastic spoon together with your mug or tumbler so that you can use it as a stirrer.

6. As toys. My boys use some plastic spoons as road tracks for their cars. You can also use these for play doughs. And even pretend-cooking playtime.

You may have noticed that we saved a little amount of money on this tip.

But a little goes a long way if you add them up...

Save on Treats!

With summer-time comes the fruit season!

There are a lot of low-cost fruits for sale now in the marketplace. You just need to look around for the greatest deals. You'll find out that you can save a lot of money compared to buying the ones in can.

What you can do is, peel a couple of the fruits, slice them into bite size pieces and place them in a bowl. Cover the bowl with a plastic wrap (or you can use a plastic container) and refrigerate for an hour.

Then when your family is up for some snacks (while playing or watching TV or surfing the net), you can serve the fruit bowl that you just made.

It's healthy and it's a money-saver too!

You can eliminate the chips and other unhealthy & expensive snacks.

Follow this up with ice-cold water or lemonade and your family will feel so satisfied with their snacks!

Wanna know how much I saved with this tip last summer? Php 1500 for the whole summer!

Not bad, right?!

Sew It!

My grandmother owned an electric sewing machine, and she used to make our everyday-house clothes with it. She even repaired clothes that get torn. She also knew how to make new things from old clothes. Like if you don't like your jeans anymore, she can make it into shorts. Old bedsheets can be turned into pillow cases. She had a lot of projects with that sewing machine. We probably saved more than Php 5000 a year because of it.

I was young then, house-hold chores were far from my interests... So I never asked her to teach me how to do those projects.

Until My S and I started our own family... And I started taking interest on these type of projects.

Sadly, she has passed away, leaving me with an electric sewing machine that I have the slightest idea on how to use... (God Bless Her Soul)...

But, as our generation of internet-savvy individuals, information on these kind of things are just a click away!

So I began researching on how to use the old machine, started some really simple projects with it, damaged a lot of old clothes due to trial and error, and alas! I finally learned my way through on how to sew!

Well, not as an expert like my grandmother, but at least I can use it to save money...

Here are some projects to try:

1. Make everyday-house clothes. If you chance upon a fabric shop that sells soft and light fabrics for a low cost, buy a couple of yards and turn them into sleeveless shirts and shorts. What I do is I take one of our existing clothes and use it as a pattern (you can also google some patterns and print them out). Your first few tries may be fashion disasters (I know, 'cause mine were!), but that's okay, you'll learn through experience.

2. Make pillow-cases from old bedsheets. When my boys were still babies, I was handed-down with A LOT of baby blankets. Now that they're toddlers, I really don't have any use for them anymore. So I tried to turn a couple of them into pillow-cases. Since they're already used, they're really soft and nice to use. Now, all of those blankets have been re-created into pillow-cases! If you have bedsheets that you're ready to throw out, try making them into pillow-cases, just use an old pillow-case as your pattern.

3. Repair torn clothes. We sometimes get our clothes torn in the most unimaginable places. Some people throw them out or use them as rags if this happens. But why not just repair it? You'll save on buying new clothes to replace the torn ones! This may take some skill so that it won't look "repaired". But as I've said, information is just a click away!

4. Make curtains. I haven't been successful with this one yet. But I am learning by using old bedsheets as experiments. My teacher for this project is ehow.com. We all know that the tag prices on curtains are sky-high if you want the good-looking ones! So why not learn how to make it, right? You'll get exactly what you want, the right shade and ruffles and size, plus, you'll save money on the way!

5. Make something new from something old. Have some old jeans that you don't like anymore? Or probably some old t-shirts that are kept at the back of your closets? Why not turn them into something new and useful? I've turned My S' old jeans into walking shorts and they look like store-bought! He also had a lot of t-shirts that he didn't want anymore, so I turned them into my everyday-house clothes and into pillow-cases.

In estimate, we have saved almost Php 3000 last year by making use of my grandmother's old sewing machine.

If you don't have a sewing machine to use, you can always do manual-sewing, but that can be hard to do if your gonna make some curtains or turn jeans into walking shorts. But for all of the other examples above, you can do them even without a sewing machine.

The possibilities of saving money by sewing can be endless!

The Energy Vampires

Nope, this is not about those people who suck energy from you (i.e. negative and melodramatic people).

This is about the energy-sucking vampires in your own home!

Check this image from GOOD Magazine:

Those lines are the energy that your appliances consume while they are still plugged in (even if you're not using them)!

So it means that even if you power-off your TVs and DVD players, they will still consume energy if they are kept plugged to the wall sockets.

And as per this article, you can save more than $50 a year if you start unplugging those appliances.

My family and I have incorporated this into our lifestyle and this is what I've noticed.

My parents-in-law have the same amount of appliances that we do, there are 3 adults in their household and almost half of the day, nobody's at home - their monthly electric bill: more or less Php 2500.

Our family (composed of me, My S and our 2 toddler sons) stays at home almost the whole day (except for My S who goes to work). Our monthly electric bill: more or less Php 1200!

I am not sure how my parents-in-law get to consume that much, but they have had it checked with the electric company, and it is accurate.

What we do in our house is just so simple but it works - we unplug it when we're not using it.

May it be the electric fan, the TV, the DVD player, the PC, the rice cooker and even the chargers!

Eliminate the Energy Vampires in your home and see for yourself how much you can save on your monthly electric bills.

Make Your Own Baby Wipes

I'm a mommy of 2 toddler boys. And when they were still babies, I was so frustrated on finding the best baby wipes so that they would not get rashes.

I checked the internet back then and found some baby wipes "recipes" that worked for me.

I would link back to that blog if only I could remember the URL, but sadly, I don't (baby brain!). I tried searching it in google but I can't find it. Anyway...

You would need a roll of paper towels for this project (no, not the usual tissue roll). If you are a member of S&R or a frequent buyer of Puregold, you would find these rolls on sale more often than not.

Recipe #1:

2 tablespoons of baby wash
2 tablespoons of olive oil or lavender oil
2 cups of water

Recipe # 2:

2 tablespoons of baby wash
2 tablespoons of olive oil or lavender oil
2-3 drops of tea-tree oil
2 cups of water

Recipe # 3:

1/4 cup aloe vera gel
2-3 drops of tea-tree oil
2 cups of hot water

All you need to do is mix the ingredients in a clean bowl.

Cut the roll of paper towel in half using a clean sharp knife (or an electric bread cutter).

In a cleaned tissue holder (or circular plastic container), place half of the roll of tissue and then pour the mixture, making sure that every surface gets wet with it. Then take out the cardboard roll. And there you have it, your home-made baby wipes!

This is cost-efficient as well since baby wipes can cost twice as much as tissue paper.

Energy-Efficient Lighting

I just found out that the Pasig City government has launched a program called "Palit-Ilaw Caravan" last month.

They changed all of the fluorescent lights & incandescent bulbs in all of the public schools, marketplace and government offices to CFLs.

This is a very great initiative, with regards to Global Warming.

It also means lesser energy consumption.

How does CFL (Compact Fluorescent Lamp) lessen energy consumption anyway?

1. They don't generate heat that adds to cooling costs.

2. They last longer than incandescent bulbs.

3. They only use 20-30 percent of the power used by an incandescent bulb.

So if you're still not using CFLs, it's high time that you do.

Think of all the energy you can save.

The money you can save.

And the contribution that you can make in the fight against Global Warming.

Summer-Time Money-Saving Tips

It's summer once again!

And what does that mean?

Heat.

And according to the news last night, it seems like we're on for a VERY hot summer.

Check this equation:

Heat = sweat = added energy consumption = higher bills

So how can we save during this incredulously hot summer?

1. Turn off the air-conditioning. Don't get me wrong now. I'm not suggesting that you suffer the sweltering heat. You just have to be aware of the weather so you can maximize it's efficiency.

Here's how you can do it: In the morning and afternoon, you can just use an electric fan, open up the windows so some air comes in. At night, if the heat is really terrible, use the air-conditioning but be sure to set it's timer to at least 4 hours (you'll be sleeping by that time). There are some units that connect to an electric fan so that when the air-conditioning unit powers off, it triggers the electric fan to power on.

2. Dry laundry outside. If you have an automatic washing machine (the type where you put the clothes in and they come out ready to be folded away), you can skip the dryer and let the sunshine & summer breeze dry your clothes. If you have a regular washing machine, turn the spinner timer a quarter of what you usually set it to. You'll see that laundry smells a lot better when dried outside.

3. Take a nap at the most coolest place in your house. In the middle of the afternoon (2-3 PM), roam around your house and try to feel which place is the coolest (usually this is the most ventilated and out-of-the-sunshine room). Set up a comfortable make-shift sleeping area in that room (since it may be your laundry area, ours is!). Start taking naps there and you'll find out that you can just set your electric fan to it's lowest level or, if it's really cool there, you may not need to use it at all.

4. Make your own ice. For those of us who don't have a refrigerator which makes ice on it's own, we tend to buy ice from the community store nearby. This not only wastes time & energy of the person assigned to buy the ice but also a money-waster. It may only cost Php 2.50-3 but it still counts. The next time that you go to the grocery store, buy some ice trays or small plastic bags for ice so that you can just make your own.

5. Use a jug. I noticed that we only use our jug when we're going out of town. I also noticed that we keep on opening our refrigerator to get some cold water. So I figured, what with having made our ice and all, we can just use the jug and eliminate constantly opening the refrigerator, which in turn, lowers energy consumption.

6. Cook outside. When you cook, the heat stays inside your house until it finds it's way out. And before it does, it would be so warm in your house that you'll need to use 2 electric fans to cool down the place. Consider a make-shift kitchen outside so that your house stays cool inside.

7. Clean your air-conditioner filters and electric fans. When the filters are dirty, they tend to restrict airflow. Meaning, more run-time and higher cooling cost. Filters are on the cheap-side so you can just replace them regularly (like quarterly). A dirty electric fan is not only disgusting but also restricts airflow, making you turn the level higher than usual. Clean your fans once a week or if you're too busy, every other week would suffice.

8. Dress down! When your in your house, use your most light clothes. My S wears only his boxer and my kids only wear light sleeveless shirts with their diapers and I wear the most short shorts and the oldest sleeveless shirt that I have. This way, you wouldn't feel so warm.

There are a lot of ways to save money during summer-time.

You just have to be innovative and open to changes.

Grocery Shopping Money-Saving Tips

Ever since I found out that my money increases in value when buying directly from the grocery store, I started to make mental notes on how to save even more.

So here are some of my tips on how to save some money when doing your grocery shopping:

1. Never, and I mean NEVER, ever go grocery shopping on an empty stomach. If you do, you tend to buy MORE than what you intended to buy. When you're hungry and you're doing your grocery, everything seems to be so appetizing that you feel like you just got to have it. But when you do your grocery shopping right after a meal, you can (& you will) just follow your grocery list - which leads us to our next tip...

2. Bring a grocery list and stick to it! Before heading for the grocery store, check your pantry and your supply cabinets. List down all that is needed to be bought right away and those that can wait or that can be bought if you have extra cash. Also, note down the quantity that you would need to buy. This way, you won't go over board with your grocery items.

3. Bring just enough money and don't bring your credit card. If you still don't know how much to bring, check on your previous grocery receipts and you'll be able to estimate how much do you really need to bring on your grocery shopping excursion. By doing this, you will not be capable of impulse-buying since you are on, technically, a budget during your shopping.

4. Stock up on non-perishables. This is effective when your favorite grocery store has announced a sale on their items (usually 1-2 weeks before the exact date). Great things to stock up on are pasta, cereal and canned goods. Just remember to check on the expiration dates of the items before placing them in your cart.

5. Check for special promos. Some items are sold on special promos for a limited time offer. Almost all of the grocery stores have a special section for these items. For example, a soy sauce bottle may come with a free smaller sized vinegar bottle. Others come with a gift. In other words, they are freebies. And who wouldn't want a gift, right? Just be careful with these offers: check on the expiration dates, check on the free item (if it's broken), and think if you would need the free item or would it just add up to your junk. If you don't have any good use for the free item, it would be better to just grab the regular item instead of the one with a promo.

6. Don't be afraid to try the in-house brands. Almost all of us are used to buying certain brands when grocery shopping. But it would not hurt to try the in-house brands. In SM, they call it Bonus. Why? First, they give the same results (if not better) and second, they cost less than the commercial brands. This might take a trial and error method for some, especially if you feel like this brand does not give the same result as your previous brand. What you can do is buy the smallest size and give it a test run. If it turns out to be fine with you, then you can buy the bigger size the next time you go grocery shopping.

7. Compare, compare, compare. This is related to tip # 6. If your grocery store does not have an in-house brand, compare your usual brand with the other brands available. Chances are you will be able to get a lot more on a lower cost with some other brands. My favorite brand of detergent soap was so expensive, so I checked on the other brands with the same ingredient, bought a couple and tried it at home. Turns out that you cannot tell the difference at all! So from then on I kept on buying the less expensive brand. It adds up if you think about how much you can save in a month then for a year.

8. Buy food that are in-season. Check the newspaper or the internet to learn which produce is in-season. When a product is in-season, it is priced to sell (since they have a lot of it). Great examples are fruits. With vegetables, always remember that during the rainy days, their prices go sky-high!

9. Buy refills. May it be cooking oil, ketchup, shampoo or soy sauce. You already have a container at home (from your previous buy), so why would you need another one right? A refill costs much more less than the ones in containers. All you have to do is transfer the foil or plastic refill to your hard plastic container.

10. Make a grocery shopping schedule. My family goes on a grocery shopping excursion every 2 weeks. We buy all that we will need for 2 weeks, rough it out and come back after 2 weeks. It saves money on transportation and helps us stick to our meal plans & grocery budget.

11. Subscribe to your grocery store's membership or frequency club. It gives you different perks every quarter or so. Some times it may offer an exclusive discount for certain items or it may give out free items. Some stores convert your total bill into points which you can use at a later time. Signing up for these membership makes grocery shopping a lot more fun and a lot more cost-effective.


These tips can save you very little cash on your first few tries, but if you add them up, you'll realize that it does help a lot.

Remeber, practice makes perfect!

My family and I have been doing these methods for the past 3 years. And in total, we were able to save Php 3000 a month on groceries. That means Php 36000 a year!

If we can do it, why can't you?

Switch Off & UnPlug Please!

When I was still a teenager, I never really cared much about our energy consumption at home.

I would leave my computer, radio, electric fan and lights on when I leave my room regardless if I'll be coming back after 15 minutes or after more than an hour.

Global Warming was in it's pre-historic era back then... In other words, we didn't care...

When My S and I were starting out our first year of marriage, bills were not a problem. I mean, we were both working, so it never dented our monthly income. So again, we didn't care...

Then I got pregnant...

And it was a very emotional pregnancy! (Oh mercy!)

I would watch the news, read some articles on-line or hear stories from my colleagues and I would be crying in minutes! Bad news made me feel sad, good news made me cry of joy.

So to save you from all of those basket-case stories, I'll just say, that I got more interested about this world and it's current situation.

Not for me nor for My S.

But for the baby growing inside of me...

I started thinking of how my baby would grow up what with battling global warming and all!

So I did my research on how to help save the world from global warming.



The mother of all tips is this -- Switch Off and UnPlug when Not in Use!

It's so simple but so effective!

Before trying this energy-saving method, our electric bill was around Php 2000. But after starting this method, it went down to almost Php 1100! Php 900 in savings!

We have then incorporated this method into our lifestyle because it gives us extra cash and more importantly, we are helping in the fight against Global Warming For Our Kids...

I will have other blog posts describing in particular how to further cut down energy-consumption.

But for now, let's call it a day, power off the computer and unplug the power cord...

Say No to Convenience Stores

My S & I used to work in a call center company.

And as such, we were used to buy A LOT of items from the usual convenience store (i.e. 7-11 & Mini-Stop). May it be cigarettes, bottled water, snacks, crackers, you name it we've bought it from these stores.

Reason behind that is because, well coming from it's name, it's convenient.

During 15-minute or 1-hour breaks, we would go to those stores and just buy what we wish. We need not bring any packed-lunch to work since it's readily available - just one elevator ride away.

One day during our then "rare" visits to the grocery store, I chanced upon our favorite drink and thought I'd buy a pack for the upcoming weekend.

I didn't check on the price.

When we got home, I doubled check our receipt to make sure everything we bought were there.

"What the..?! This pack of 6 costs Php 150? We buy this for Php 40 a piece!"

Yup, young & ignorant as I was then, it never occurred to me that I would get a lot more value for our money if we bought directly from the grocery store instead of the convenience store.

So My S & I agreed to never ever buy anything from the convenience store unless it's a real emergency.

Well, let us dig deeper...

What are the usual items bought from grocery stores?

1. Beverage - This may be bottled water, soda or any type of beverage. Come to think of it, do you really need that Php 20 bottled water 3 or 4 times in a day when you can just buy a tumbler and just use the water dispenser in your office pantry?

2. Hot Coffee - If I remember correctly, the smallest cup of hot coffee from a convenience store costs Php 15-25. But if you buy a pack of instant coffee from your grocery store (the single-serve types), it would cost around Php 60-80 for 12 cups. That's value for your money.
Don't have anything to drink it from in the office? Go buy a cute mug that you can keep in your work station and a tea-spoon too. It may cost Php 50-120 but you would get to use it for a LONG time.

3. Snacks - I'll round this up on these items: cracker, biscuits, cookies, chips, small breads, peanuts, etc. Basically anything that you can nibble on. My favorite biscuits costs Php 10 from the convenience store, but when bought from the grocery store, it costs Php 40 for a dozen. Are you getting the hang of it yet?

4. Toiletries - As women, we get a monthly visit from the Red Sea (if you know what I mean). Sometimes we're caught off guard and need to buy sanitary napkins in a hurry. Per piece in a convenience store, it's usually sold for Php 6-20. But if you buy it from the ever-reliable grocery store, it only costs Php 50 for a dozen.

5. Pre-Packed Meal - There have been a lot of new additions to the convenience store, and it includes lunch or snack packs. It can be rice with viand packs , sandwiches, siopaos, stuffed breads just to name a few. Let me elaborate on the rice & viand packs on a separate blog. For now, I would focus on the snack packs. A usual sandwich costs Php 40 in a convenience store. If you buy a pack of pan bread, it costs you Php 40, a pack of sliced ham for Php 50, medium-sized mayonnaise for Php 50 and a roll of lettuce for Php 30, Php 170 in all. Yeah, it may cost a lot more than your convenience store sandwich, but you can make up to 6-7 servings. Still, a very great value for your hard-earned cash.

It all boils down to one thing, convenience stores are rip-offs!

When going to work, you can use a medium-sized bag, put in a packed lunch, some crackers or biscuits for snacks, your toiletries, a small drinking bottle, your cigarettes (if you smoke) and you can make it through your shift without the need to do your regular convenience-store trip.

It may be a hassle for some to drag a bag when commuting to work...

But hassle does not (and will never ever) hold a candle to giving value to your money.

Think about it.

My S & I were able to save a little more than Php 1000 on the 1st month that we said No to Convenience Stores.

How much can You save?

To Save or Not To Save

Hi Y'all!

Welcome to Saving Money Made Easy!

This is my very first blog post... And I am so excited to share what I know about Saving Money!

Well, first thing's first, Why do we Need to Save?

The most obvious reason is, of course, for money's sake!

The other reason is because it is practical and saving money can be easy...

Saving can be done on almost all aspects of our everyday lives... Taking a bath, eating, dining out, commuting, using the TV, doing the laundry...

The possibilities are endless!

Happy Reading and I hope you can find this blog useful for your everyday lives...