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Monday Q&A | Cameras, lenses, lunches, and staying thin

Every Monday, I answer a few of the questions that my readers send me. If you have a question you’d like me to answer in a future Q&A post, just leave me a comment here or email me (thefrugalgirl [at] gmail [dot] com) and put Q&A in the subject line. I look forward to hearing from you!

One of my favorite parts of your posts are your photos — what type of camera (and lens, if applicable) do you use? I know it’s more than the camera — like the photographer, but I’m still curious. I love your photos!

-Connie

I’m so glad you like my photos…I love taking them and sharing them. 🙂 Your question is very common, and when I finally get an FAQ page up, this question will be at the top of the list! I apologize to those of you who’ve read this answer a million times before. I am going to get that FAQ page up, I am. One of these days.

I shoot with an entry-level Canon EOS Rebel camera body, and I mainly shoot with two lenses, a 50mm/1.4 lens and a 24-70 L series lens. The majority of the photos on this blog are shot with the 50mm, though, simply because it’s so light and convenient, and because it’s so simple to use in low light.

I have done a number of posts about improving your photography no matter what camera you have, so you might want to browse through those. I do love my camera equipment to pieces (I could never go back to a point and shoot!), but like you said, equipment isn’t everything. So, if you don’t want to invest a whole lot of money into bodies and lenses, improving your photography skills is a good way to go.

Question: What kinda camera do you use? I am saving for one and cannot decide between a Nikon or Canon. I would love your input.

-Monica

As I mentioned in the previous answer, I shoot with Canon equipment. I don’t have anything against Nikon at all, though…in fact, I’ve never shot with a Nikon before, so I don’t even know if I like their stuff or not. However, I’ve got a small pile of money invested in Canon lenses at this point, so I think I’m firmly in the land of Canon now.

I know that’s profoundly unhelpful…I’m sorry! I know that when I read photography magazines and articles, there doesn’t seem to be a clear answer about which is better. Some people adore Canon and some people would never consider shooting anything but a Nikon. From what I can gather, you’d probably be happy with either choice.

I do love, love, love my Canon DSLR, though, that much I can tell you.

I am a new reader to your web site, and just wanted to know if you had any frugal tips or ideas for cold lunch ideas that I could pack for my husband. He does not have access to a microwave during his day, and we are trying to save money by him not eating out every single day.

-Kaya

It does make it harder to pack a lunch when there’s no access to a microwave or toaster oven, that’s for sure! I hate it when my husband’s place of work doesn’t have a toaster oven.

I’m sure my other readers will have some ideas to add to mine, but here are a few to start you off.

  • peanut butter and jelly sandwiches
  • chicken or tuna salad sandwiches
  • wraps (you can fill tortillas with lots of different things…chicken, lettuce, tomato, bacon, cheese, etc)
  • pasta salad (we eat things like chicken pasta salad for dinner in the summer, and I send leftovers in my husband’s lunch)
  • soup in an insulated thermos

I have a silly question. How in the world does your whole family stay so fit? If I did the baking you did, I think I’d weigh 300 pounds. Are you super active? Do you attribute it to how healthy you eat (other than the carbs?)? Small portions?

-Lynda

I don’t think that’s a silly question at all. 😉

I think the overall slim-ness of our family is attributable to several things.

  • Genetics. We’re all fairly tall and have kind of light builds. My husband I just don’t have the genes to turn out a family of linebackers…we’re built more like runners. I would guess that our metabolisms run a little on the fast side of things, though I don’t have any medical evidence to support that.
  • Portion Sizes. I don’t know that we deserve a lot of credit for this, but none of us has an enormous appetite. So, it’s not as though we plow through incredible amounts of food and still stay slim…we just eat smallish portion sizes.
  • Diet. Yes, we eat home-baked goods and our diet isn’t perfectly clean, but we don’t consume a lot of processed foods. I cook mostly from scratch, we don’t eat restaurant or fast food often at all, we eat fruits and veggies, and we drink mostly water. This causes us to consume far fewer calories than we would if we drank sugary beverages, ate fast food and prepared foods, and didn’t eat fruits and vegetables.
  • Activity. Since we don’t spend a lot of time watching TV or participating in other sedentary activities, we tend to be fairly active. Except for when I’m blogging, I don’t spend much of my day sitting down. And of course, my kids, being kids, are usually running around the house or running around outside.

In sum, I think the skinny-ness of our family is due to a combination of things outside of our control (the genetics) and lifestyle choices (the portion sizes, diet, and activity level).

Now, as far as the home-baked goods go, there are two things I’d like to point out.

  • When you have homemade breads around all the time, it’s not that tempting to gorge yourself on them. If you only get homemade bread once in a blue moon, you want to eat piece after piece after piece. However, if you know there will be more bread tomorrow and the next day and the next day, it’s much easier to control yourself!
  • Despite the way it seems, I don’t do a lot of sweet baking. I know I post recipes for muffins and coffeecakes and cinnamon bread, but those sorts of breads make up only a small percentage of what I bake, much to my children’s chagrin. The most oft-consumed baked good here at Chez Frugal Girl is the lowly whole wheat sandwich bread, not the cinnamon twists (those are an occasional treat).

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Thanks for all your questions, everyone. And thanks for being patient with the tardiness of my blog post this morning. I’ll try to be more prompt tomorrow. 😉

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Polly Papp

Friday 12th of March 2010

Yes, it's hard to find clothing bargins on a budget when you are plus-sized. I'm an 18. Kristen's lucky to be slender, naturally.

Our church did a a plus-size clothing swap. I was so excited until I saw the clothes. Uh...most of the members of the church who are plus size are also over the age of 60!! I think Chico's has beautiful clothes-they are just a little old for me (I'm 36) and too dressy to be SAHM-practical.

I'm back to scoring online bargins at Alight.com's clearance.

Battra92

Tuesday 9th of March 2010

Oh and for all those participating in the Nikon vs Canon wars, Leica would like a word with you. :-P

Kristen

Wednesday 10th of March 2010

lol! I'm already happily hitched to Canon...Leica's going to have to find some single girl out there to sell their stuff to.

Battra92

Tuesday 9th of March 2010

I'm perfectly happy with my old Yashica gear (I should be, I just restored it last fall :-P ) but one of these days I really would love to buy a Voigtlander Bessa R2A. Sadly, I just can't in good conscience drop that kind of money on a camera and a whole new lens system.

When you choose a camera system, you're married to it for life. It's very hard to divorce yourself from a camera maker.

Unless of course, you're rich; then you're free to be a polygamist.

Michelle

Tuesday 9th of March 2010

I make my husband's lunch the night before, since he leaves for work at 5:30! It's usually a sandwich, a piece of fruit, a crunchy something (crackers, homemade Chex mix, etc.), and sometimes a couple of Tablespoons of nuts. The trick to helping him not to be tempted to hit the fast food instead of the bag lunch is to give him variety. Different types of sandwich fillings, sometimes a wrap or a pita or a roll instead of sliced bread, sometimes I'll cut up a grapefruit for him instead of an apple or banana, sometimes we might have cookies in the house.... He recently told me that he likes it when I make his lunch (instead of him making it) because he enjoys the surprise of not knowing what's going to be in there.

You can also put in fresh cut veggies with or without dip, a breakfast baked good (coffee cake, banana bread, muffins), dried fruit (you can home-dry fruit for cheap! the marked-down bananas are wonderful when dried), green salads of all sorts and varieties (put the dressing and "crunchies" in tiny containers and stick them right into the salad bowl with the lettuce so things don't get soggy before lunch), yogurt (with an ice pack), hard-boiled eggs (with ice pack)..........start making a list of foods he likes that he can eat on the go, so on the days when you have no inspiration you can still make a yummy lunch!

erin

Tuesday 9th of March 2010

I agree with the bread. I think when I first started making it, we consumed more than we do now, although it is part of my routine to bake it all the time, I guess knowing its around, makes it less likely to eat so much in one sitting.

We do eat a lot of the sandwich bread, but just the mention of cinnamon twists... mmm, now I'm putting it on my list to make this week!

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