Solution . . . Hummus Popsicles

As you may have guessed from the rather witty title above my food waste woes for this week was the tail end of a container of home made hummus.  It doesn’t look bad in the picture but I can tell you it’s gone quite bitter.  On the bright side I had a quick save this week in the vegetable department.  One green pepper, half a cucumber and two tomatoes were (mostly) salvaged and made a delicious Greek salad two nights ago. 

It’s been several months since I’ve wasted hummus but it is a reoccurring problem.  I am a terrible estimator of how much hummus I’m going to eat before it goes.  I’ve gotten better and am making less to begin with, however the problem with the home made stuff is that you need to make a certain amount or the food processor won’t be able to turn it into a proper paste. 

The solution I believe will be not only simple (which is good) but pretty nifty.  Hummus freezes quite well as I have done this in the past.  So my plan for the next batch of hummus is to freeze it in serving size portions.  Since most of my hummus is eaten at work as part of my mid-afternoon snack a serving’s worth it quite simple to dish out.  If all goes well I’ll make a huge batch of hummus and freeze in individual balls (if I had an ice cube tray I’d use that) and store them in the freezer.  Every Sunday, when I fix my snacks for the week, I’ll pull out five to thaw and take one a day for lunch.  In the process I will hopefully insure that I never, ever waste another mouthful of tasty and healthy homemade hummus = ).  

A Great Leap Forward

I've updated the line on my wall!

            As mentioned yesterday I made a huge dent this week in my mortgage jumping from 22.5% owned to 30.4% owned.  This is courtesy of the fact that my bank allows me to pay up to 10% of my mortgage amount once every 12-month period.  As a result my mortgage dropped from $148,044.79 to $132,844.79.  Which is 3 and a half years gone from my mortgage.  (Only 255 months left if I stick to the regular repayment schedule, like that’s going to happen!) 

            I love the option that my mortgage has.  In fact I would council anyone who is shopping for a mortgage, especially if it’s a closed one, to look for extra pay off features.  It was a huge selling point for me when I was looking for a mortgage and I ended up going with the bank that offered three separate pay off options that I use. 

1.     I am allowed once every 12 months to pay a lump sum, up to 10% of my initial mortgage, directly against the principle. 

2.     Once a year I am allowed to increase how much I pay monthly by 10%.  So I went from an initial mortgage payment of $646.62 to $711.28 every month.  Next November I can increase it by another 10% to $782.41 a month. 

3.     I can double up my payments every month.  So at the moment every month I am paying $1,422.56 ($711.28*2), the second half of the payment goes entirely towards principle. 

The other feature offered at my bank, which I do not use, is an accelerated payment schedule, allowing you to make mortgage payments weekly, or bi-weekly, which results in a couple more payments a year than if you pay monthly.  I have stuck with monthly payments since I am paid monthly and it makes the record keeping a lot easier.  Add to that the fact that I am making loads of extra payments so I can afford to go monthly. 

Going with a bank that offers all, or a number of these options will allow you to pay off your mortgage a good deal faster, and result in a lot less interest.  That said I would not recommend that you put money towards your mortgage that you may need later.  I do have access to part of the equity in my home; at the moment my line of credit that is secured by my house has $19,955.21 available.  However, the interest rate on any money that I borrow from this line of credit is higher than the interest on my mortgage.  There is no point paying off a debt that costs you 3.09% only to borrow that money at prime plus 0.5 (currently 3.5%).  You will be paying more in interest and will be vulnerable to changes in the interest rate.  Before I make an extra payment against my mortgage I make sure that I have a solid emergency fund, that I have enough set aside to cover my expenses for a month, and that I have saved something for my retirement.  

Windfall

I’m not sure if current events constitute a windfall precisely.  According to my dictionary a windfall is an unexpected good fortune, typically one that involves money.  The payment that I received was not entirely unexpected.  I’ve known it was coming for at least a year, and though I had $44,788.20 deposited on into my account Friday I’m not sure I’m I’d count myself lucky.  I didn’t win the lottery if you’re wondering that payment was the I’m-so-sorry-we-broke-your-knee-have-some-cash-to-help-deal-with-the-fact-you’ll-be-in-chronic-pain-for-the-rest-of-your-life money.  To be entirely honest I’d rather have a working knee back again, unfortunately that’s not an option. 

The big question now is what to do with this rather large influx of cash.  When my office mate found out that I’d received my payment (she’s gotten to hear many, many frustrated calls to sort the issue out so she knew it was coming, though not how much) her first reaction was “that’s great you could go shopping!”  To which I replied “or I could pay off part of my mortgage.”  Her second reaction was “you could take a trip!”  To which I replied “or I could pay off part of my mortgage.”  Guess what I did with some of the money? 

So my “windfall” is at the moment broken out like this:

-$20,000 set aside to pay for my Master’s degree

-$8,800 moved to my “pay off the mortgage” account, and $15,200 used to make my yearly 10% payment right away (which is why my lovely side bar jumped from 22.5% of house owned to 30.4%)

-$788.20 set aside to have fun with. 

You’ll notice that only 1.8% of the money I received will be going towards fun stuff.  While I briefly considered putting a large portion of my money in investments for retirement I decided not to for a couple of reasons.  Foremost is that my retirement fund will be well plumped up as soon as I see my return of value from the military.  Besides that, I am using most of this money for investing, just in a less traditional sense. 

Funding my Master’s degree will provide me much more job security, and allow me to progress in my career.  Without it I would either be stuck at an entry-level position or I would have to change career paths, which would be difficult.  Paying off my mortgage faster means I will pay significantly less interest on my mortgage and free up a good deal of my take home pay a lot sooner.  Add to that I am just a little bit closer to having a home that cannot be taken away from me. 

As for the fun money I haven’t decided exactly where it is going yet.  While I did consider throwing it against my mortgage I though I owed myself a little break.  That said there is a good chance that the fun things I decide to do with my money will also be of long-term benefit.  Perhaps it’ll pay for language classes that will open more opportunities, or a canner so that I can eat my own food all year long, or maybe I’ll buy some crafting materials for projects I can eventually sell. 

Either way I know that the way I’ve divided up my money is precisely right for me.  

Getting to know your food

             Do you know what you ate today?  More specifically do you know what went into it?  If it came from a fast food place or out of a box from your freezer I’ll bet the answer is no.  I’m not a foodie in the traditional sense, I’m not interested in spending hours in the kitchen in search of that perfect sauce and I don’t particularly care what wine goes with which meat.  I am more then happy with a handful of simple but well cooked meals on my weekly menu. 

            That said I have been pushing myself more and more over the past couple years to cook from scratch.  There are a number of reasons for this. 

            It’s (mostly) healthier for you.  You get rid of preservatives and artificial coulours.  It doesn’t have to survive for a couple weeks on the shelf before it makes it to your kitchen to be eaten a week latter.  Plus you know that there hasn’t been any extra sugar or salt added to make it “taste better.”  True you can make triple fudge brownies from scratch that aren’t particularly healthy.  But the point is it is entirely under your control. 

            It’s cheaper.  You’re not paying for things to be individually wrapped.  You’re not paying for some one else to do the cooking or processing.  More often then not you can buy your ingredients in bulk and save again. 

            You’ll learn to appreciate what is going into your body.  When you can name every ingredient in every dish that you’ve eaten that day you’ll appreciate the work that went into making it and will be less inclined to waste it.  In a world where people starve to death every day our corner of the world has come to view food as a luxury that can be wasted. 

            So I invite you to take one day this week and make a meal from scratch.  Sure it’ll take a bit longer but as you cook, and perhaps nibble along the way, you’ll get to know your food.  When you sit down to eat it, there will be much more satisfaction then if you had just heated something in the microwave and it’ll taste much better then what’s been sitting on a shelf for who knows how long.  

FP – Crackers

             I’ve had some goat’s cheese hanging around my fridge since the last time I made lasagna and had been wondering what to do with it before it went off.  Some ended up on salads but I really enjoy eating it with crackers and thai hot sauce (may sound strange but trust me, it’s to die for!)  Problem is I really didn’t want to have to go out and buy crackers (way too expensive for a box that is really only half full) so I started wondering how hard they would be to make. 

            Turns out they’re pretty easy.  After surfing recipe site for a while I found a good recipe on Mother Nature Network.  So simple to do it took me all of 5 min to put together, and the crackers themselves are quite tasty.  That said who eats crackers plain?  The whole point of a cracker is to eat the stuff on top of it without getting your hands dirty. 

            I did make a couple of alterations to the recipe.  For my first batch the dough was quite crumbly and the crackers disintegrated when I tried to take them out of the pan.  So I added more water to the second until all the dough stuck together in a ball.  Second the thinner they are the better they bake.  I would recommend a rolling pin. 

The crackers that broke made their way into
my soup.  Yumm!

            So I decide to price out the cost of my homemade cracker. 

2 cups (280 grams) whole wheat flour – $0.15 per 100 g = $0.42 for 280 g

1 teaspoon (5 ml) of salt – $0.01 (Ok, I rounded up for simplicity’s sake.) 

2/3 cup (166 ml) of warm water – FREE (Yes I pay for my water with utilities, but no not even for you am I going to try and figure out how much 166 ml of water costs)

1/3 cup (83 ml) olive oil – $0.50 per 100 ml = $0.41 for 83 ml

Total = $0.84 (for about the same amount as a store bought box)

Cost for bought crackers = $2.67

Amount saved = $1.83 or 69% off

            With a little more salt the crackers would also make pretty good nacho chips.  Over all I pretty sure that this recipe will trim almost $33 a year off my grocery spending.  That’s almost a weeks worth of groceries.  Add to that the fact that these crackers have no food colouring or preservatives and that there was no packaging that needed to be thrown out.  I’d say this recipe is definitely a keeper! 

            Now I just need to find a cheap yet tasty topping for my crackers.  Suggestions any one?  

Book Review: Tumbleweed DIY Book of Backyard Sheds & Tiny Houses

Given my fascination with tiny houses it is only natural that I review a book by Jay Shafer, creator of Tumbleweed Tiny Homes, called Tumbleweed DIY Book of Backyard Sheds & Tiny Houses.  Let’s just say that I wasn’t disappointed. 

To start off with the pictures in this book are absolutely stunning.  Yes, this is helping him to sell more houses, but to someone who thinks that smaller housing is a small yet significant step in helping with our multitude of ecological problems, I say sell away.  Yes, these houses are roughly the size of some people’s garages (or smaller) yet the pictures make them seem cozy and home like instead of squashed or cramped.  Add to that the fact that the exterior looks nothing like a shed and you have the complete and very appealing package. 

The second half of the book provides instructions on how a layman can build their own tiny house.  It covers the entire outer structure, from foundation to walls to roof.  All the steps are laid out clearly and with an ample supply of pictures to help with comprehension.  The book provides a general overview of the different types of materials that can be used and in some places instructions on how to calculate the amount of materials required.  That said the book does not provide information on interior finishes, or plumbing and electrical work.  While understandably the last two should be completed by a qualified tradesman it would have been nice to know what one should look for in terms of types of materials being used and suggested setups. 

I would recommend this book to any one who wants to know more about building houses or sheds.  The instructions provided by this book make building small structures accessible to those with little prior knowledge.  For the small house enthusiast it provides an enjoyable read and a multitude of beautiful pictures to kindle the ambition of being a small house owner.  

March Mid Month Check-Up

Here comes the mid-month review.  You may have noticed the slight increase in my Emergency fund.  (Actually it jumped from 21.1% to 83.3%.)  That would be the happy result of my moving claim being finalized.  At this rate my fund should be fully funded by July freeing up some money in my monthly budget = )

Mortgage - Successfully doubled-up

Retirement/Emergency Savings - On Track/See above

House Maintenance - Savings are up to $706.49. I'm feeling good about this area and have no plans for spending it at the moment. 

Housing Taxes/Insurance – Taxes savings are at $238.63 with the bill (about $1,200 due by the end of June.  I’ll need to move some of the excess “life” money to this account.  Insurance is on Track

Big Ticket Items - $129.82 in savings, those unanticipated big expenses keep rolling in. 

Travel - On Track

Health Insurance - Spent

Bus Pass - Spent

Cell Phone/Internet - Bills have not yet arrived.  As long as I don’t go over my minutes this month (it’ll be close) I’ll have an extra $15 in this account. 

Car Savings - Going well, and I am so not in a rush to get a car. 

Train - $104 still there.  Might use half of this to go home over Easter.  That said my brother and his fiancé might be coming by my place to get to my parents . . .

Other Transportation - $90.70 left, I’m not getting cab rides as much as I expected.  I’ll have to reduce the amount I budget for this.  

Utilities - Bill has not yet arrived, but I’ve got $476.20 tucked away.  Should be enough for 2 months now that it’s getting warmer. 

Food - $116.39 left.  Though there are 3 more Saturdays (shopping day) in this month. 

Miscellaneous - $0 left.  Little early in the month to have nothing there, but I do have some cash in my wallet to cover miscellaneous. 

Entertainment - $0 left.  I paid for my writing seminar.  Can’t wait!

Social/Sports - $5, funny how this account goes down when you pay your dues.  

Clothes - $30, hmmm, wonder how long I can avoid shopping for clothe (ewwwwwww!)

Gifts - $8.73 just bought my sister’s birthday gift.  

Financial Planning - $15 I have an appointment made and will begin monthly payments then. 

I’m in a comfy place.  Nothing to do for the moment but to keep on going.