Thanks!

Nina Smith — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 11:10:09 -0500

Hi Tracy,

Thanks for taking the time to comment. I'm glad you liked the interview. I took a look at your blog and happy to see another woman blogging about personal finances! Keep the posts coming!

Nina Smith
Queercents
We're here, we're queer, and we're not going shopping without coupons.

I dream of Italy!

tlmg21 — Sun, 30 Sep 2007 18:20:28 -0500

What a great interview! I would love to travel to Italy someday, and she makes it sound even more wonderful than I imagined.
Tracy
http://mymoneystory.blogspot.com/

Thanks for the introduction

Nina Smith — Sat, 29 Sep 2007 16:34:49 -0500

Kalyn,

I'm glad you liked the interview. And thanks for introducing me to Nicole at BlogHer! I met her because of your kind offer to share a taxi!

Nina Smith
Queercents
We're here, we're queer, and we're not going shopping without coupons.

Me too!

Kalyn Denny — Fri, 28 Sep 2007 19:57:23 -0500

Very fun reading about Nicole's adventures in Sicily. Nicole, me too on the 100mm macro lens!

Kalyn Denny
Kalyn's Kitchen

Ten Money Questions for Nicole Hamaker

Nina Smith — Fri, 28 Sep 2007 19:05:02 -0500

In this week’s Ten Money Questions we speak with Nicole Hamaker, the food blogger at Pinch My Salt. I love those food blogs! And this one is especially appealing with Nicole’s fabulous food photography. She’s also an expat living in Sicily and has an international perspective when it comes to food, money and living abroad. Enjoy!

1. How is creating a meal in your kitchen more economical than eating out?

Compared to eating out, it can definitely be more economical to make meals at home. There are certainly factors that could cause this statement to be untrue, but if you shop smart and are willing to dedicate a few hours per week to food preparation; most people will find themselves saving both money and calories by preparing meals at home.

Contrary to popular belief, eating healthy and eating economically can go hand in hand. Here are a few tips to help you do both!

1) Buy local when you can and eat what's in season: Seek out your local farmers market, you'll probably be pleasantly surprised at both the prices and the quality of produce available. If you're out of touch with what's in season, do some internet research and find out. Seasonal produce is generally less expensive as you aren't paying to have it shipped from another country.

2) Make a list and don't shop on an empty stomach: Plan out your meals for the week and then make a detailed list of what you will need to prepare everything on your menu. Check out the grocery advertisements in the newspaper and try to plan some meals around what's on sale. Try creating meals that use some of the same ingredients in order to utilize leftovers and minimize preparation time. Example: Marinate and grill chicken breasts (or veggies) one night for dinner and then chop up leftover chicken (or grilled veggies) and use for salad lunches during the week and pizza another night. You can easily stretch one night of grilling into several different meals.

3) Stay away from prepared and packaged foods: It's not that difficult to wash and prepare vegetables, grate your own cheese or even make your own pizzas. The key is to set aside an hour or two on your shopping day for food prep. Wash and dry lettuce before it even gets put in the fridge (a salad spinner is a lifesaver for this), figure out what prep work you can do ahead of time for your planned meals and do it right away. It doesn't take as long as you think and if you get it done at the beginning of the week, meals will be quicker and easier to prepare during your busy weeknights.

4) Use more whole grains and legumes and don't be afraid to go meat-free for a few nights: Beans and grains are both highly nutritious and economical but many people don't know what to do with them. Do some research, educate yourself, and start experimenting! Beans and some whole grains are perfect for the crockpot while others, like quinoa can be cooked quickly. Beans combine with whole grains to form a perfect protein, why not forgo the meat every once in a while!

2. What is your most significant memory about money?
This is a hard question to answer since it seems that so many memories are tied to money in one way or another. One significant memory about money is the first time I saved enough of my own money to make my first major purchase. I was 12 or 13 and had been babysitting my three young cousins every day for $15 per week. One dollar per day per child may not seem like much, but that $15 at the end of each week seemed like a huge amount of money to me. I felt like I needed to do something important with that money so I took a quart-sized mason jar, cut a slot in the metal lid, painted the whole thing black and started tucking away my money. I didn't save every penny, but halfway through the summer I had managed to save up about $50. I knew exactly what I wanted to do with it. All the kids at school were wearing Swatch watches at the time and I had been eying one in particular. It was pink and black and white with a checkerboard watch band and I thought it was the coolest watch in the world. I still remember how it felt to buy something for the first time with money that I had worked for and saved up.

3. What is your worst habit around finances?
My worst habit is not keeping track of what I'm spending. My husband and I are lucky in that we don't have to live paycheck to paycheck but this has also made me a little too lax when it comes to paying attention to my spending. I know I should be better about tracking it because I would most likely be shocked if I knew how much I actually spend, say, on cookbooks!

4. If you could buy two things right now what would it be?
I have to say that my kitchen is so well-stocked that I'd actually rather downsize than buy anything new. But I do dream of a kitchen with a five burner gas range and a double oven someday. I am dying to buy a 100mm macros lens for my camera.

5. You have lived in Sicily for the past three years. How would you compare the life in Southern Europe with the proverbial excess and consumerism in America?
I've actually been in Sicily for almost four years now and living here really has changed the way I view the 'American Dream.' Notice I mentioned above that I would actually like to downsize the amount of stuff I have rather than buy more? Four years ago, I would have said that I could never have too much kitchen stuff! I have learned that we really don't need as much as the television and magazines tell us we do. Coming back to the United States, it's a bit shocking and unsettling to see the big cars, big houses, big stores and big restaurants. They're everywhere and it's just too much. I don't know if it's just because I've been away for a while but to me people just seem less happy in general. If so many people have so many things, why do they seem so unhappy?

In Sicily, the unemployment rate is very high and most people don't have a lot of money. The average family shares a fairly small apartment, has one small car, and one television. Children live with their parents until they marry and maybe even after. It's not uncommon to live at home well into your 30's. To an American, this might sound like a nightmare. But guess what? It works. Sicilians know how to enjoy life. They have fun. They enjoy each other. They value family and friendships over everything else. They take pleasure in things that we don't. Americans have managed to turn both food and exercise into the enemy. We have over analyzed food to the point that one can no longer enjoy a meal without feeling guilt. And exercise, something that might have once been a part of normal life for Americans, has now become a chore, something we feel forced into. In Italy, a meal is a social event, something to be savored. And an evening stroll is something to be enjoyed, not endured. I don't know any Italian women who feel guilty for eating a plate of spaghetti. And I also don't know any that force themselves onto a treadmill at 5 am. Food and exercise are just a part of life, not something to obsess about.

6. If you had $300 dollars to spend on a foodie weekend, where would you go and what would you do for the best experience?
I would spend that $300 on a couple nights at an Agriturismo somewhere in Italy. Agrituristic farms are now open throughout Italy. They are farms that offer rooms, often in beautiful old villas, and provide meals using their own products. Usually you will eat vegetables, meats and cheeses that all come from the farm or at least they will be very local. They might also have vineyards and olive groves and produce their own wines and olive oil. It is the ultimate way to experience the real Italian life.

7. At BlogHer, you alluded to a pending move back to the US. How will your newfound love of cooking shape the choice about what you do for work?
Well, that is a very good question! I am still trying to figure out what type of work I will be pursuing when we come back to the states. I would love to find a job that involves food somehow but I think I would prefer to be writing about food and/or developing recipes rather than pursuing work in a restaurant environment. I've also dreamed of someday opening up a small bakery/cafe.

8. You're writing your first Pinch My Salt cookbook and are considering the self-publishing route. What kind of investment is required?
I haven't done much research yet into what kind of investment will be involved in self-publishing a cookbook. I have a tendency to just kind of jump into things and hope that it will work out!

9. How has money played a role in your relationships?
I am happy to say that money has never had that much of an effect on my relationships. I think the problem to avoiding money-related problems in a relationship is to be very open about the subject. People can have wildly different views about handling finances and if you are starting a relationship with someone, it is very important that these things are discussed in the beginning.

10. I've written about soldiers and debt and wonder if you have any first hand insight or opinion into the root of the problem?
It really seems that young people in the military are often targeted by creditors because they are in a situation where they have a very steady paycheck (often for the first time in their lives) but very little knowledge about how to manage money. The credit card and car loan offers come pouring in and next thing you know the debt is out of control. When a soldier ends up in a desperate financial situation and is then offered a choice to go serve in a danger zone and earn what seems like a huge amount of extra money, they will probably choose to go.

More about Nicole Hamaker
Nicole and her husband are Americans that have been living in Sicily for over three years, stationed at a U.S. Navy base. She has always loved to cook but the sights, sounds, and tastes of Sicily have inspired her in ways she never could have imagined. She has come to realize that creating a meal in her own kitchen is not only healthier and more economical than eating out…it is also much more fun! Her blog is found at Pinch My Salt.

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Read other interviews in Nina’s Ten Money Questions series at Queercents.

BlogHer - Ten Money Questions for Nicole Hamaker - Comments

Thanks!

I dream of Italy!

Thanks for the introduction

Me too!

Ten Money Questions for Nicole Hamaker