RSS Feeds
Facebook
GRS Twitter
I’ve been on a productive tear lately. I’ve banked a lot of future Get Rich Slowly posts, but still have more in me. As a result, I’m starting to share guest posts with other sites, something I haven’t done for a while. First up: 10 essential money skills for a bad economy over at Zen Habits.
Elsewhere around the web, these stories have caught my eye:
Andrew B. just sent me a link to a free PDF from Dave Ramsey’s site. This report makes the argument for why you should keep investing. This isn’t something Ramsey created, and it’s not something that he’s trying to sell. It’s just a free report that shares the “wisdom of great investors”.
Elsewhere, Charlie at Pay Less for Food argues that you can save money eating out by going ethnic. This is something that GRS readers have been preaching for years, and I agree. Just the other night, Kris and I had a typical American meal at a local restaurant (fish and chips, chicken fried steak). Nothing fancy. I was shocked at the $40 check. Yikes! If we’d gone out instead to my favorite cheap taco place, we would have been just as happy and spent only $10. Ethnic isn’t always cheaper, of course, but it’s a fun way to explore new food and keep your costs low when dining out.
Finally, USA Today notes that bartering booms during tough economic times. According to the article, postings in the Craigslist bartering section have doubled in the past year. When my family experienced rocky financial straights in the early 80s, we traded a parrot to the barber for 100 haircuts. More recently, Kris and I have bartered for stuff around the house.
This article is about Spare Change Thursday, 26th February 2009 (by J.D. Roth)
February 26th, 2009 at 8:22 pm
“Ethnic” vs. “normal American?” Seriously? People still talk like that?
February 26th, 2009 at 8:41 pm
I’ll add to the eating ethnic idea… if you’re in a city big enough to house a few ethnic markets (Chinese, Vietnamese, eastern European), you’ll find much better deals on meats, fish, and vegetables.
One example — whereas the mainstream supermarket sells chicken bones for a buck a pound, the Chinese market in my vicinity sells three to four chicken carcasses — five pounds of bones — for a buck. That means I can make three to five times as much chicken stock, which means three to five times as many lunches or dinners of hearty vegetable and barley soup, for the same price.
Yes, you need to learn to make chicken stock, and soup. But neither is hard, they’re just things you need to learn. And they are fantastic ways to cut the daily and weekly food budgets.
Beyond that, there are great cuts of pork and chicken for $1-$3 less per pound than my mainstream supermarket. It’s definitely worth snooping around the off-the-beaten-track markets in your area!
February 26th, 2009 at 9:00 pm
Saw your post on Zen this morning. Is that post a prelude to the book you are working on?
February 26th, 2009 at 9:01 pm
Ethnic food is a good tip for saving money and great treat as well. Since liquor has such a steep mark-up, when we eat at the local burger joint we generally just drink water. While rinsing down the burger with our favorite beer is quite nice, we can get a six pack for the price of a single beer. If we still want a beer when we get home we enjoy the 80% discount out of our fridge.
February 26th, 2009 at 9:08 pm
@Sarah (#1)
Obviously I (and the blog I linked to) made some sort of faux pas, but for the life of me I can’t figure it out. How would you phrase these things? Doesn’t ethnic refer to anything other than the dominant culture? Is it wrong to believe that there’s such a thing as American food?
Color me confused.
February 26th, 2009 at 9:12 pm
Kris says the phrase “typical American food” would be better. “Normal American” can be read in a way other than I intended. I’m making the change!
February 26th, 2009 at 10:34 pm
I always think of fish and chips as quintessentially British, not American.
I don’t know that recommending ‘ethnic food’, regardless of the political correctness of the term, is really the best suggestion, though. Certainly the average taqueria is pretty inexpensive, but that’s a trait of taquerias, not of all foods originating from other countries. Would you go out for Italian or Japanese or French food to save money?
Food from most countries comes in a variety of price points. Certainly you can buy a burrito for $4, but you can get a hamburger for about the same price. Yeah, a steak is more money, but so is the shrimp fajita plate.
February 26th, 2009 at 11:57 pm
Eating in town is an “extreme sport”.
I really don’t remember when i had my last meal at a restaurant. But when i think that there are many other things i can do with that money, i don’t feel sorry.
February 27th, 2009 at 12:59 am
In your travels around the web, did you happen to see the latest update in credit scores? Apparently Experian will no longer be participating in the consumer business portion of FICO. So financiers, business people, and employers will be able to know what FICO thinks of your Experian data, but you won’t. I’d love to get your opinion. Is this just a ploy to push their own scores? And how do you think this will effect your avg. consumer?
February 27th, 2009 at 1:40 am
I think I’m slightly uncomfortable with *ethnic* in this context, but I’m not sure that there’s a better word. *Typical American* doesn’t make it jar quite as much.
Where I live there’s good Indian/Pakistani/Bangladeshi, Jamaican, Chinese and SE Asian food relatively cheaply both for groceries and restaurants. Not many Mexicans in the UK though so no cheap burritos.
Fish and chips is British. I have eaten it in the States, but if it was American you’d probably call them fries. Delicious, and probably cheaper as a takeaway.
February 27th, 2009 at 3:38 am
Thanks for the mention J.D. I love your site and have been following you for quite a while.
No offense intended by the “ethnic” label. Don’t know how else I could have phrased it.
If anyone has ever eaten at a restaurant where the restaurant owner or cooks have actually grown up in another country you can actually taste the difference and its a truly a delicious and unique experience.
Mexican food cooked in the true Mexican tradition tastes quite different and better than what is considered your typical Mexican fare.
One of the best meals I’ve ever had was eating Ethiopian food in the same manner and tradition as that eaten in Ethiopia. (You sit on the floor and eat from a communal bowl) - and it was relatively inexpensive for the quality of meal I was served.
Its amazing how exciting meals can be if you just don’t fall in the habit of patronizing the same chain restaurants all the time.
February 27th, 2009 at 5:46 am
I’ll second Charlie’s comment. I was introduced to “true mexican” food through my girlfriend. It is a world of difference! And not only that, it’s usually cheaper than equivalents at standard tex-mex / southwestern fare.
Of course, I think most of that comes from using lard or at least shortening instead of oil… But that’s another discussion for another day
And I don’t see the big deal about using “ethnic”. How else are you supposed to phrase it? “Foreign”? That sounds even worse… Like they’re somehow not supposed to be there, and are outsiders. I think ethnic is a good, neutral term to use here. Of course, it also technically applies to American food also, as everything humans create is ethnic in some way. But common usage deems “ethnic” in this sense as not relating to the majority ethnic group.
All that said, I think maybe the point was missed that it’s really the smaller, less-traveled markets you are looking for here. It just so happens that the vast, vast majority of those focus on ethnic cuisines, since the “typical American” ones have been long put out of business by the supermarkets.
February 27th, 2009 at 7:19 am
your note about the 100 haircuts for a parrot reminded me that there was a news report last night that someone was just arrested for trading her two children for a rare bird
February 27th, 2009 at 8:16 am
Ethnic and typically American food work for me. I understand why you used “normal” though … being gluten free, I get the “normal” vs “gluten-free food” all the time. I don’t take offense. (Sometimes I fall back on “regular” and “normal” myself to differentiate between the two, because people get what I am saying immediately.)
Another reason that some ethnic restaurants have lower costs is that they don’t spend a lot of money on a high-dollar space with upscale furnishing. Simple and clean with great food at lower prices works for me.
The bartering boom is yet another good thing that is coming out of these economic times. Other than the obvious monetary benefits, people are once again making connections through these types of arrangements.
Shirley
February 27th, 2009 at 9:07 am
Trading a pet animal for goods just does not sit well with me. If an animal is just material goods to you, don’t get take it home in the first place.
February 27th, 2009 at 9:16 am
I think you have forgotten about the “tourist fee” - in a lot of places there is one fee for the regulars and another for the “visitors”. There may even be different menus, or posted prices that do not apply to the locals. You are, after all, paying for the experience as well as the food.
February 27th, 2009 at 9:30 am
I agree that bartering has definately increased during the hard times. People begin to look to their roots for ways to save, ways to cook and ways to get what they need (or get rid of what they dont)other than retail.
My wife took the initiative lately and has been posting a ton of junk we have lying around the house and we have pulled in a good 200$ this month from selling things on craigslist.
Another tip, anyone visiting craigslist often should check out Adravage.com. It searches and emails craigslist listings based on notifications you set up.
February 27th, 2009 at 10:37 am
JD: Your intro to Pay Less for Food immediately made me think of Indian cuisine, so seeing a lovely pic of naan on Charlie’s site was sweet.
Realist: I’d introduce myself to the manager, ask about the place, his kitchen’s spin on the particular region’s cuisine, and otherwise take an interest in the operation. Subsequently, not only may you get the regulars’ menu, if such exists, but you may get to meet the chef, receive the occasional amuse bouche from the kitchen, or be seated without a reservation. Hell, in this economy, with restaurants suffering along with every other small business, managers will be happy to build long-term relationships with people as genuinely passionate as they are about their fare.
I’ve seen “traditional” as a descriptor for American food, but really, most of the menu items on chain restaurants — many of them “traditional” American — originated in fact or tradition overseas. Add to this the confusion of some types of cuisine deemed “ethnic” being of origin outside the source country, like General Tso’s chicken or chicken tikka masala. I guess it’s a matter of assimilation and authenticity.
I think I’d only take issue with the term “ethnic food” if someone were using it to reject something new to them out of hand, e.g., “That’s ethnic food!” Usually a cue that I’ll be happier not dining with that person. Probably best to just name the specific region when discussing food options. Though I’ve never seen anyone freak over someone’s use of “ethnic” as a macro for “non-American food.” You can overreact in either direction.
And now I’m jonesing for my local Indian buffet. Which, to return to the topic, is dirt cheap.
February 27th, 2009 at 1:15 pm
I second the eating of “ethnic”[0], or non-mainstream food in the larger, English speaking countries[1] that maintains the majority of this audience of this blog. Generally, mainstream food is going to be more expensive, due to the fact that it’s in higher demand. Also, there’s the whole issue that, at least in the U.S., processed foods have marketing and increasingly expensive ingredients, and real food is usually shipped a great distance, often out of season.
So yeah, you can do pretty well if picking the right sort of restaurant or ethnic market (to make the stuff at home). Some Mexican and Indian cuisine can be relatively cheap per pound, especially if you’re hitting a taqueria or can find an Indian buffet that does takeout. If you can find it, most forms of African food are delicious and again, not too pricy. This is also true of some Asian foods, depending on what you’re looking at. Middle Eastern and Mediterranean food varies, but generally is a good bed. Hell, I’d even throw in good old Southern U.S. style soul, creole, and cajun food being cheap if you know what to look for.
On the flip side, a lot of Asian restaurants have gone upscale, especially if they serve Japanese food, or just “fusion”. Sushi is not cheap, and that’s fine, because if they use cheaper fish, it tastes like crap. On the plus side, I also fill up very fast on a smaller portion, and unless you’re eating a bunch of tempura on the side, it’s really healthy. A lot of European foods fall into the expensive category too, but again, keep in mind you’re not supposed to eat giant portions.
I’ve found that eating out occasionally at ethnic places is great, especially for foods that are just don’t work at home. For the rest, I prefer learning to cook the stuff myself, and get a ton of ideas from around the world. It’s amazing how many ways you can make “rice and beans”[3], both of which are *very* cheap by the way.
In one week, I’m happy eating French style lentils with tomato and onion over rice, Latin style black beans and rice with chicken, Indian channa masala (chickpea curry) over rice, good old American chili (no rice this time), jambalaya (no beans this week), and then using the saved money to get some sushi at the end of the week. . . with a side of edamame.
~EEE~
[0] Technically, all food is ethnic food, since it just means it belongs to a culture somewhere. For this discussion, though, I’ll go with anything you can’t get at Applebee’s.
[1] There, I think that safely excludes Belize and a handful of Carribbean islands where this may not apply.
February 27th, 2009 at 1:18 pm
True American food, IMHO, is when half the ingredients are already processed foods. Especially if one of them is cream of mushroom soup. The closest equivalent in restaurants is generally in cafeterias or small-town places. And it is cheap.
March 1st, 2009 at 8:47 pm
Waaaoooop, waaoooop, the politically correct police are here.
Give it a rest, Sarah. The intent of the reference is quite clear and obviously not intended to be derogatory.