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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
