Talk About It Tuesday

Last week I received an e-mail from a reader who recently read my previous post on canning. This reader wanted to give a little bit more vital information to the process.

Just read your article on canning (the part that states), "Before opening a pressure cooker after boiling, you must quickly depressurize them by running cold water over the canner until the pressure valve goes down BEFORE you can open the canner."

Lots of good info...however I wanted to let you know that everything I have read on canning says this is a HUGE no no. The rapid loss of pressure can easily crack jars just as a cool draft can. Running water over it is even worse, both methods are unsafe and can even crack the metal of the canner/cooker itself. I know my canner manual has safety warnings directly warning against both when canning. It says never to quick cool. You should always let it lose pressure without touching the canner or lifting any weighted gauges. Only when pressure is at 0 should you even check the gauge. If no steam comes out, then you are okay to open it, etc.

I wouldn't say anything, but considering it is also a pretty big safety issue I thought I'd probably better. I am glad for every article out there on canning. It is something people really need to learn and I know I appreciate seeing folks pass on the knowledge.

Big thanks to the reader who e-mailed me this valuable information. So what should you do the next time you decide to can; should you follow the steps provided in the post or the latter provided by this reader? My suggestion to you is first to do whatever your instruction manual (if you have a canner) states and secondly to do whatever works best and is safest for you. Both readers have had success in each of their own ways, so I think it's a matter of what way you can achieve your results with the least amount of risk possible.

Thanks again to this reader for sharing her information. Do you have any questions, comments, ideas, or follow-ups to anything you have read on my site or are just interested in discussing? If so, please email me at Savingyoung@yahoo.com or simply leave a comment.

Talk About It Tuesdays: Horror Story

The following is a e-mail I recently received from a reader & I felt so horrible for her that I decided to share her sad, sad story with you.

Dear Saving Young,

I can't say that I have an issue that
I really need advice on. I am writing this note more to vent. The worst (or one of the worst) thing has happened to me, I lost something. Now I know at this point you have probably a couple of ideas in your head but I can assure you that it is none of them. Not my diamond ring, I have insurance on that. Not my wallet, there is never money in that anyway. I lost the one thing that I don't have insurance on and can't do anything about...my COUPON BOOK! I think that I can hear the gasps around the world right now from all of your readers. I have called the grocery store EVERY DAY asking if someone turned it in but OH NO THEY HAVE NOT! When I lost my wallet, it was turned it (yes, I am very grateful). When I lost my sunglasses at Texas Steak House, they were turned in. My mother-in-law lost her cell phone at the gas station and the person who found it called her to give it back. God must have a very weird sense of humor or he knew that some other lady needed my coupons (not to mention great organizational skills too). This was not just a coupon book, it was a COUPON 1" 3 RING BINDER with tab dividers. When I needed a coupon, I was not one of those ladies fumbling through stacks of coupons. I would flip to the tab for what ever I needed a look through a page of baseball card protected coupons (your idea actually and thank you). The last time I called my Kroger the boy said, "No, we still have not found it." I guess that means that I called too much. After that I broke down and started the whole process all over again. The only flip side to this is that I finally upgraded to the notebook that I had been wanting but was too frugal to buy (since I already had one).

Frazzled Couponer in TN

If you have any frugal horror (or in this case sad, but kind of funny) stories, any comments, questions or ideas that you would like to talk about or have me answer e-mail me at SavingYoung@yahoo.com or simply post a comment.

Talk About It Tuesdays

I wanted to start a new reader inspired idea in my blog called, Talk About It Tuesdays. In these posts, I will discuss/answer any questions, comments, ideas, or topics that you the reader come up with. To participate simply e-mail your idea/question to me at savingyoung@yahoo.com or leave a comment on the blog post of your choice.

This week, a reader sent me a great question viea e-mail as follows:

"I have recently started using coupons, and I can only save about $7-$9 per trip. When I am easily spending 150.00, it doesn’t sound like much. Do you have any online web sights where you get your coupons at? We don’t have any of the bigger stores, other than Wal-Mart, but I don’t usually shop there..."

I thought this was a question to talk about here because I have had several readers ask me the same thing. Here are some ideas/steps I shared in how I save money on my grocery bill.

First, things first. CVS is where I do all of my shopping for make-up, cleaning products, personal care items, etc because I can literally get it for pennies. If you are able to shop there, I would recommend reading my post on "how to do the drug store game" and begin buying many (if not most) of the items I listed from CVS.

With that being said, there are still other ways to save money at the grocery store. I usually shop at an Albertsons and only go to Wal-mart when I absolutely need something & I know that it's not on sale, etc elsewhere & even then I try to see if I have a coupon for it. So here is a break down list of things I would recommend for someone just starting out:

1. Make a budget & try to pay cash if possible. I have always had a grocery budget, but because I always paid with my check card I never realized that I was always exceeding the budgeted amount. Now I always pay with cash (I keep it in an envelope at my house & take some with me on the days I know that I will be grocery shopping). This helps you not only stay in budget, but also helps you make better decisions on what to buy because you will know exactly how much you have left for the month.

2. Take baby steps with your grocery budget. Don't wake up one day & try to reduce it by $200 the first month because you will go crazy & might make/buy meals you don't even like as an attempt to stay in budget. I've gone slowly & started reducing my budget my $10-25 at a time. Initially I reduced it by about $25 & did that a couple months & once I got the hang of it I reduced it by a little bit more, etc.

3. Clip every coupon you can get your hands on whether you normally use that product/brand or not. I use to not clip coupons for certain brands because I thought, "Oh, that brand is so expensive that even with the coupon I can't afford it," but after learning how to match coupons & sales I learned that I had thought wrong. Also, I clip coupons for items I normally don't buy, because due to sale/clearance prices you can often buy things for free or really cheap. And I'll be the first to tell you, food that I normally wouldn't buy that is free, tastes even better than my normal food. For instance, I had coupons for some super expensive cheese that I would never pay full price, but saw it marked down one day. Well, the sale price was $4, then the store had a $2 off coupon put on it because the sell by date was approaching in a week & I had a $2 off coupon. In the end, after combing coupons & sale prices, I got the cheese for free.

4. Buy two (or more) papers if you can, so that way when something goes on sale you will have more coupons available to use on those items. In my cheese example, I had two coupons so I actually got two things of cheese for free.

5. Wait until you are out of something to buy it (unless it is a deal from heaven). I try to only buy items that are on sale and I have a coupon for, unless I am absolutely out of something & can't live without it. In that case I go to the store that sells it for the lowest price. Just be careful to watch the sales price. Many store will keep the price the same or actually raise the price of a sale items & just change the wording, so people don't realize they are actually paying more. For instance, my store charges about $2.50-$3.00 per LB for chicken. When the chickent is on sale Buy 1 Get 1 Free people rush out to buy it, but the store raised the price to $5.99 per LB. So after the "sale", the chicken averaged out to $3/LB which is the normal price.

6. Every week, match up your grocery store's sales flier with your coupons. A good example of matching sales & coupons would be if cereal were on sale for Buy 1 Get 1 Free, most stores would allow you to use 2 coupons since you are technically buying 2 items. Or if there is a mix & match sale, like buy any 5 of the following items get $3 off. In this scenario I look for the 5 cheapest items that I have coupons for. For instance, one store had this deal going on & one of the items was a particular cereal. Well, I had coupons for $2 off that cereal, so I bought 5 boxes, received my $3 at checkout, & used 5 $2 off coupons. This actually gave me a -$3 difference that was applied to the balance of the rest of my groceries. So I got 5 boxes of free cereal & $3 off the rest of my bill. (Remember though, the store won't pay you back a negative balance, so make sure you have enough groceries to cover the difference.)

7. When something is dirt cheap (or free) get it. You will always find a use for it or you can stock up if is something you use often. If you don't have any cash leftover to buy the item, decide if it is really worth it buy it & reduce your next months grocery budget by the amount you went over. One time I found a great deal on something, but it was the end of the month & had already used up my grocery money. I had decided that since it was such a good deal I would purchase it, but then reduced my grocery money by that amount on our next pay day.

8. Always scan the reduced/clearance areas. My grocery store doesn't have a clearance aisle, but after going a few times I have figured out which types of items will get marked down. Usually, the cold items like milk, meat, eggs, etc that have sell by dates will get marked down when that day is approaching. I always look for these items even when I am only running in for one items, because this is where you will find the best deals sometimes. I always try to get reduced meat; I just make sure that I use or freeze it by the date shown on the package. Also, if something is marked down at the store, you can still use your coupons on it. I bought 50 yogurts for $3 one time because they were marked down & I had coupons.

9. Try to combine store coupons & manufacturer coupons. Most stores that have their own coupons allow them to be used in conjunction with a manufacturer coupons, which only sweetens the deal you are getting. You'll just have to check if your local store does this.

10. Remember to apply these same steps to things like household items or cleaning products or toliet paper, because that type of stuff can eat up a lot of your budget. For this type of stuff, if I don't have a coupon, I always try to get the cheapest product available. Remember, things like TP is literally flushing money down the toliet.

11. Try to buy as little convience food as possible. My motto is that I only buy "junk" food (i.e. cookies, cake mix, etc) if I can get if for cheaper than I can make it. This not only helps with money, but also with our nutrition. There is a great website called Hillbilly Housewife that has loads of great recipes & ways for you to make your own mixes/convience foods.

12. Most importantly, always take your coupons with you EVERY time you go to the grocery store & make a list (& stick to it). Every single time that I do not bring my coupons, I see some sale item that I had a coupon for & wish I had brought it with me. The list is very important too because it will remind you of what sale items you matched up with your coupons. When I don't bring a list, I usually end up buying unnecessary items. Remember though, it's okay to stray from the list so long as the item is a great deal (hopefully a sale & coupon) & won't break your budget.

At first, attempting to save money on groceries seems hard & like a lot of work, but after a few months it will become second nature because you will have trained your brain to think this way & to look out for deals. Also, the best thing you can do is find a system that works best for you. Not everything I do will work for every person in every situation. Don't feel bad if you go a little over budget or if you want to get something special for the kids. Peace of mind & a happy home are just as important as saving money.

Canning 101

After my mom read my recent post about wanting to make and can home-made gravy, she decided that I needed a little canning 101 lesson. She brought up many good points & tips that I thought were worth sharing. Here is her e-mail:

In the process of canning, you have to kill all bacteria that may be present. This starts with hot, clean, boiled (or I use extra high temp dishwasher setting) jars and lids and rims. I usually do the lids and rims in boiling water, as it keeps them germ free because you don't want to be touching them. That goes for everything. No touching. Use boiled instruments. Cleanliness is next to godliness here. Jars, rims, lids, should remain hot until canned. Usually the same goes for the food going in them.

Next, there are two methods for canning:
1) hot water bath
2) pressure canning

The hot water bath will not work for you in this instance of canning gravy. Hot water bath can only work for items which have either very high acidity (such as pickles packed with a brine (salt) solution with vinegar (dill pickles), or just vinegar and sugar (sweet pickles). or enormous amounts of sugar (fruit preserves). Some tomatoes used to be able to be canned by hot water bath, but new varieties of today's tomatoes don't have enough acid to enable this without pressure canning. Your grandma used to hot water bath green beans, but she never should have done that. We took a chance there.

Everything else should be pressure canned, using a pressure cooker/canner. Gravy, as would meats, or soups, or many veggies, and wild meats, should be pressure canned. I am unsure about canned fruit if it is not preserves.They make special pressure cookers for this because your normal pressure cooker isn't tall enough to put canning jars in.Follow instructions carefully so you don't explode the canner and scald yourself during explosion. Before opening a pressure cooker after boiling, you must quickly depressurize them by running cold water over the canner until the pressure valve goes down BEFORE you can open the canner.

Product that is not canned correctly can develop botulism, which is tasteless and odorless, but deadly even to taste test. People die from it. However, most spoiled product will taste and smell bad anyway, but absence thereof is no guarantee that it does not have botulism. Any canned product (even those coming in steel cans you buy) should never burst out when they are opened, as if they were under pressure. (Bad sign). So squirting when you open the can is bad. Bubbles in canned jar food- bad sign. Strange smell or color, don't trust it. Whenever in doubt, it is not worth dieing over.

So, for instance, when I make pickles, I do hot water bath. The hot jars are immediately filled with my hot pickles (or sometimes cucumbers and hot brine/vinegar, depending on type of pickle). I fill them pretty full with liquid, because it is hot and expanded and the contents have not settled. I leave about half the distance of the corkscrew area of the jar or less filled with the hot liquid. I place a seal on the jar, and then I put the rim on the seal. The lids are kept in a HOT boiling water mixture. They are difficult to get out, but they make a little wand with a magnet on it that you can put into the water and fetch the lid with. The rims are also kept hot. Place the rim over the lid. I DO NOT tighten the rim down. I only put it on just enough to hold the lid in place. Tightening it will make it impossible to get off, plus I believe the air might have to escape - I'm not sure on that. Don't worry. They will not leak.

I take my tongs (they make wide ones that you can purchase in the canning section of Wal-Mart) and they are as wide as the mouth of the jar. I quickly fill all 1-6 jars and with lids and rims placed on the jars, and using the tongs, put them immediately into a large canning pot (usually a tall enameled pot) that has water already boiling. There has to be enough boiling water to completely cover all the jars once the jars are all in place. Some pots actually have a jar lifter that you can use so you don't have to use the tongs one by one.

The trick here is knowing how much boiling water it takes after you have water displaced by 1 to 6 (or however many fit) jars. I usually know how many I'm going to put in at once, do a trial run with cold water to see if they are covered or if they overflow the pan. You get the picture. Be mindful of evaporation if you do many jars/times.

Once they are all in, they only have to boil a few minutes - I don't remember how many minutes. The recipe or canning instructions are usually on the pickle mix, or canning lids, or somewhere. What happens then is you will bring the jars out with your tongs after the timed bath and place on a towel, OUT of the draft. The last thing you want is a cold air conditioning vent draft to hit these jars and crack them. I saw that happen to grandmother once. She was not happy! She often covered them with a towel to avoid that.

You will start hearing a little "pop" which is the seal popping into the "down" position. Sometimes it starts while the jars are in the pan. Other times, it happens as they start to cool. This makes the air leave, or something. All seals should pop down eventually - IF they are canned correctly. If not, then they are not canned or safe for storage.

Anyway, it is worthwhile to also note, that you should never use any home-canned product if the seal is not "down." This is the middle of the lid is depressed or sucked down. When you unseal my pickles, for instance, you probably unscrew the jar rim, and then pry up the seal and hear it pop. You will note that the seal is "up" then after it pops, or a little dome shaped. I suspect that is where you get the name for the "Dome" brand lids. Also worthy of note is that while you may reuse a rim, you never, ever reuse the lid in canning. (the lid is the middle portion with the rubber seal.) Once the rubber seal has sealed, you cannot trust it to use to seal again for pantry storage purposes. Oh, it is OK for in the frig, but not to store on a shelf.

You will find some things called "quick canned." That usually refers to when you are canning and want to save out a jar to use something maybe in a week from the frig rather than stored unrefrigerated on a pantry shelf. In this instance the product is processed to the point it is put in the jars, but does not undergo pressure canning nor hot water bath method. You have simply made pickles, veggies, gravy, whatever, and wish to store it in a jar as opposed to Tupperware in your refrigerator. It has the shelf life that pickles, veggies, gravy, or whatever, usually has in your frig!

You will note that some things last longer in the frig. Pickles and preserves last a long time because of their natural bacteria preventing preservatives (vinegar and/or sugar and/or salt). You will also note that properly canned items can have their rims removed rather than tightened down once the lids have "sealed" and are cooled. Note, I didn't say pop the seal. The point is that the product is sealed and probably would have to be pried open and wouldn't need the rim. I never do that because I just don't. But I have seen it done.

23 brand new polo shirts plus 4 hats for only $12.90!

This post was sent in by a reader that had gotten a great deal on some men's polo shirts and wanted to share:

If you don’t mind a logo and really love a deal, this idea is for you! I went to a local company/store in Iowa that custom embroiders and screen prints polos, tees, sweatshirts, coats and more for small and large businesses and groups across the nation. Their outlet and business is all in one building. True, most of the shirts (but not all) had embroidered logos on either the chest or the sleeve of the polo. These were all “flawed” shirts, clearanced for 2 for $1.00! The “flaws” usually consisted of incorrect embroidery color or logo placement (right instead of left sleeve, etc.) and were plainly identified by tape on each shirt. Only the two button-down collared shirts (these were without logo but had a sizing discrepancy) were $1 each. The hats were various styles and logos for 10 cents each!

The brands I purchased were Harriton, Devon and Jones, Port Authority, Page & Tuttle, Blue Generation, Cotton by Anvil, Extreme, Rivers End, and Richardson (hat). I told my husband that we could pay $10 to $20 plus for shirts from the mall that sport the maker’s logos (i.e. free advertisement), or we could pay 50 cents and sport the logo of “another’s” choice! I made sure the logos were of a manly, sporting, vacation, or high-tech nature. I tried to get small logos and ones only on sleeves, if possible. The quality runs from Friday Casual, to Golf, to Work. Hubby can now mow the lawn, relax on the deck, or even change the oil in the truck (as men often impulsively do), and I will never complain at these prices!

I believe the rural location, no frills building and direct outlet pricing combined to make this real deal possible. Finding other similar businesses in your area might provide you comparable deals. Oh, by the way, since we are retired and living in the country, just remember this: Cows can’t read! Oh! By the way, similar logic can also apply if you are a suburban dweller!

Great idea from a reader!

I received a great e-mail from a reader who had an excellent idea on how to save money on gardening. Here is their e-mail:

"Gardening/recycling - Instead of paying $2.50 to $4.00 for a bag of mulch, why not get it for free or a greatly reduced price if you have a truck or trailer?

Many county waste management landfills now offer mulch either free or for a low price. When it is free, you simply have to load your own by pitchfork (BYO tool).
Some places charge a nominal fee of loading for you using an end loader. Sometimes the mulch is for a $ fee per ton. If using this method, it is important for your readers to remember to NEVER buy the mulch within a couple days of having rain, as the rain water will quickly nearly double the weight of the mulch (therefore, you will be paying for water)!

My personal experience in acquiring landfill mulch has been good. Some landfills grind the mulch too large and this would be undesirable. Others have mulch ground nearly as good as bagged mulch (sometimes referred to as double ground). I personally have started using the "construction" grade mulch because it cost me about $5 per scoop and my trailer will hold two scoops. I am also lucky in that the construction mulch at my landfill is ground nearly as finely as the tree mulch offered, plus is largely made from pallets and other woods. The same amount in the tree mulch cost me about $60 for two tons. The construction mulch weighs less, but has good coverage (two scoops is usually around 1 1/2 tons - $10 total- while two scoops of tree mulch is around 2-3 tons, depending on moisture - $60-$90 total). Some people will give you a million reasons for not using mulch from the landfill, (insects, unknown insecticide or chemical) but I have had good experience with it. Many times I find the people who insist on not using it simply have deeper pockets than I do! 100 bags of mulch covers a very, very small area (I estimate 10'x20' or less) at the minimal cost of $250. I can buy 2 tons of mulch for $60 for tree mulch, or $10 for construction mulch (or free if I shovel). Most of my plantings are large hillsides or large gardens away from the house. If I used bagged mulch, the projects would be unaffordable!

I, for one, think that if you think buying bagged mulch or buying bulk delivered from a provider guarantees no insects, etc., (besides, you don't have to "buy" termites to eventually get them in you mulch) you probably are somebody who believes that some bottled water that you purchase NEVER comes right out of some tap! In fact, when you order bulk mulch from many landscapers (still at a high cost, but less than bagged), where do you think they get it? Probably if not from a landfill, then from a tree service. Their markup is huge! Anyway, last time I checked, many trees that are cut down by tree services are cut for a number of reasons, to include dead or diseased trees! At any rate, I think bulk mulch from a landfill is a good buy, especially if you plan on large landscapes away from the house (and you are not rich or overly picky)! If your county does not offer the mulch, try calling an adjoining county. The better the landfill, the better the chances are you will find it."

Thanks to everyone for your great comments and ideas. Remember, you too can always e-mail me with any ideas for posts or tips that you want to share.