Monday Q&A | Leapster Games, Eyewear, and Newlywed Frugal Living
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!
I've bought my daughter a Leapster (sadly, no hand-me-down one for us). I read in your blog that Zoe received a Leapster game for her birthday and Christmas, so I am wondering whether you have any frugal Leapster tips! Here in Australia, Leapster games are $50 each at major department stores 😮
Also, I know you wear glasses or contacts (like me - I have very bad eyesight) - do you have any tips for making new glasses and contacts more affordable?
-Agnes
Leapster
Dear me! $50 for a Leapster cartridge is a lot (unless I'm missing something about how Australian dollars relate to U.S. dollars).
My best suggestion is to look online to see if you can get a better deal. I don't know how shipping costs are for Australian, but could you order something from Amazon and save money? Or perhaps you could find some second-hand games on Ebay.
Or, if there are good yard sales in your area, perhaps you could find some Leapster items there.
Do you have Freecycle in Australia? Leapster items might show up there every now and again. And do you have children's consignment stores in your area? The ones near me do sell some children's toys, so they might have some Leapster games.
Contacts/Glasses
I do indeed have dreadful eyesight. I've needed vision correction since I was 6 or 7...I wore glasses until I was 14, and then I got contacts.
I currently wear soft contact lenses, and thus far, I've bought them through my eye doctor's office. When I buy a year's supply, I get a discount, but the main reason I buy through him is that I get fittings and adjustments if the lenses don't work.
Last year, we thought we had the right lenses, so I bought a year's supply, and a month later, my left lens wasn't working for me at all. Something about the way my astigmatism lens settled in my eye was causing me not to be able to see properly. If I'd ordered my lenses through a third-party, I'd have been hosed, but since I bought them through my eye doctor, he was able to work something out with his supplier, and I got to exchange my un-used lenses for the proper type.
So, long story short, buying through my eye doctor seems to be the right choice for me because my eyes are somewhat complicated. If you have a simple prescription, though, it may be worth checking into prices online or at other stores.
As far as glasses go, I do keep a pair around because I don't always have my contacts in. To save money, I keep my frames as long as possible, just exchanging the lenses when my prescription changes. You could probably save money by purchasing glasses online or at a discount store, but I get free glass lenses when I purchase my contacts, so it makes sense for me to get them at the eye doctor's office.
So, I'm not super helpful with discounts for eyewear, I guess. I'm sure my readers will be able to offer some good suggestions, though!
I've been married for a year and a half and was wondering...when you and your husband were starting out what were ways that you saved on money? I'm still learning how to cook meals for my husband and I that taste great and are healthy but don't take a ton of time. Any great meal ideas for two people that aren't too time consuming? Also any thoughts for saving money for two 26 year olds?
-Melissa
When Mr. FG and I got married, we were definitely living on a lean budget. We rented a $400/month basement apartment, Mr. FG was working in a warehouse, bringing home $300/week, and I was teaching piano and working part-time at Nordstrom making $8/hour (that's the only time in my life I ever worked for someone other than myself!). Because we knew we wanted to have children at some point and we knew we wanted me to stay home with them, our goal was always to live on Mr. FG's income and keep my income as optional. So, we did our best to survive on only his warehousing income.
That was 13 years ago, so my memories of that first year and a half are a little bit fuzzy. I do know that we ate at home almost every night and that we spent very little money on clothing, entertainment, and any optional purchases.
Because of our frugal living, even on our meager income we were able to stay debt-free, pay for some significant dental work, pay off Mr. FG's car loan, and save up enough money for a down payment on a townhome (we moved when we'd been married for 2.5 years, and Joshua was a baby).
If there's one piece of advice I have for people who are in the before-kids stage of life (this reader didn't say if they're planning on having kids or not, though), it would be an encouragement not to waste these years financially. Usually, the before-kids years are less stressful financially, and so they're a great time to build up some savings for the future. So, eat at home, forgo some new electronic gadgets, skip some movies, have potlucks at home with your friends instead of going out, and put that saved money in a savings account.
I don't think any people have ever regretted building up their savings when they were young, but there are plenty who regret not having done that!
On the meals for two people front, I'd suggest cutting regular recipes in half, or making regular recipes and freezing half for later. Mr. FG and I ate a lot of stir-fries in those early years because they're easy to make in a small scale, and they're fairly cheap and healthy as well. Also, sandwich-type meals (quesadillas, paninis, subs, etc) are great for two people.
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Readers, hopefully you can share some helpful eyewear advice, and I'd love to hear your input on the other questions too!
Today's 365 post: Wondering why my vent cover is in the sink?
Joshua's 365 post: My Stamp Collection
It is just my husband and me, so when I make casseroles that call for a 9x13, I make the whole recipe, but put them in two 8x8's. Then we can cook one and freeze the other for another day. Doesn't leave as many leftovers!
I purchased my contacts through Vision Direct. I have daily wear contacts, though I only wear them 3-4 times per week (wearing glasses the other days). I ordered a sis-month supply (really a year, though) through ebates and received $30 in cash back. There was also a rebate for $30 on the contacts themselves. In the end, it was a smoking deal because I got so much money back. My prescriptions are simple, though.
I have ordered my last two pairs of glasses through 39dollarglasses.com. I don't have bifocals, etc. so the glasses are right at $39! I have vision insurance through my employer and it is still cheaper for me to order the glasses online!
America's Test Kitchen has great cookbooks geared toward two people called "Cooking For Two". They produce a new one every year. I particularly love the dessert recipes because they are for two and you don't have a ton of cake left over that you HAVE to finish =)
You can find them here: http://www.cooksillustrated.com/bookstore/detail.asp?PID=457
My husband and I have a toddler, but she barely makes a dent in the meals I cook, so I'm still essentially cooking for two. I try to choose recipes that serve 4-6, and then we have the meal two nights in a row. I'm usually cooking pretty interesting dinners, so we don't mind eating leftovers. If there's more food left after that, we either have it for lunch or freeze it for later dinners (especially with things like soup). We eat at home almost exclusively, and I try to plan breakfast, lunch, and any snacks/desserts every week, so that we're not tempted to go out for food.
I agree with Kristen about building up your savings as much as possible before you have kids, which I really wish my husband and I had done. We frittered a lot of our money away, and while we're in a pretty good place financially at this point, we could be in a much better one if we'd been responsible.
As for general ways to save money, I would recommend investing in some inexpensive board games and maybe a Netflix membership, for frugal at-home dates. I find that I often enjoy dates at home more than I enjoy dates out.
For glasses I have been very please with the on-line Zenni Optical that Clark Howard recommends. They have some very stylish frames as well.
That's fantastic financial advice you're offering for newlyweds. I wish my husband and I would have been more frugal when we were starting out!
Looking back at our life BK (before kids), we ate out way too much. We shopped for home goods way too much. And we refinanced our mortgage to cash out some of the equity too many times (three times for a total of $60,000 in equity over ten years).
The funny thing is, I've always prioritized savings, but happily carried around debts until recently.
Needless to say, I'm in the process of changing my ways!
Your blog is a great source of inspiration for us recovering debtoholics. Thank you.
With regards to inexpensive meals that are healthy and quick for 2 - we've found that cooking regularly during the week is just too hard with working late hours, and trying to include gym time, Bible studies, taking evening graduate classes, keeping our house in order, etc.
We have variations of eggs, high fiber toast, and fruit a couple times a week - cheap, quick, healthy. Stir frys, as mentioned, are also a great quick meal - especially with the convenience of frozen stir fry veggies. We also do a lot of quesadillas - usually with pre-cooked chicken sausage and high fiber tortillas. Frozen ravioli can be easy to heat up for two, as is frozen turkey meatballs with jarred marinara sauce (TJ makes reasonably priced bags). I used to make big casseroles to reheat during the week but found them difficult to make healthy. For lunch - I make batches of healthy slow cooker soups during the weekend like turkey bacon split pea soup, lentil, or chicken tortilla soup. http://www.sparkrecipes.com has a lot of resources for healthy slow cooker meals.
Hope that helps!
On cheap, quick meals:
When both hubby and I were working full-time, I used to spend a chunk of Saturday or Sunday cooking and doing prep work. This allowed me to buy things in bulk and unprocessed, then do all the prep work ahead of time.
Example menu:
Chicken fajitas (2 meals)
hummus with fresh veggies and pita (2 meals)
Black bean soup with bread and cheese (2 meals)
Pizza on Friday night
Sunday work:
Slice colored peppers, freeze raw in 2-serving sandwich baggies
Cook chicken with salsa, sliced onions, and Italian dressing for fajitas, divide up into baggies and freeze
Make bread
Make black bean soup
Make hummus (canned chickpeas, raw garlic, a bit of tahini, salt, and olive oil)
Slice raw veggies for dinner, lunches, and snacks. Store in fridge (throw a paper towel in with sliced peppers to keep them from getting slimy)
Cook Italian sausage with some onion and freeze for pizzas. Will need to thaw overnight.
Dice green peppers and freeze in serving sizes for pizzas (for us, 1/2 a pepper is good for our regular pizza). On Friday, take directly from freezer and sprinkle on pizza.
Soup is easy to reheat in the microwave or on the stove. Hummus tastes better if it sits for at least a day, anyway, and homemade is much less expensive than store-bought. In summer we frequently have taco salads - just chopped lettuce and tomatoes topped with taco meat, which is easy to make ahead and freeze in portions.
For the fajitas, microwave the chicken mixture until soft, then toss with the peppers into a medium to medium-hot skillet with a lid while you shred cheese and set the table. 10 minutes after it goes into the skillet, it will be hot. Tortillas can be stored in the freezer (they separate easily when frozen, so just pull out what you need) and reheated in the microwave in just a few seconds.
My husband and I are both in grad school, so we live on about 1k a month. We're living off our savings pretty much, so we aren't "saving" any money for the future, we're just trying to not go in debt.
My advice is just to embrace this stage. Sure PBJ lunches and stay-at-home Valentine's days aren't fancy, but I know that my parents have fond memories of these days. We hardly ever go out to movies (once a year, maybe?) We walk to school. I know we don't have much, but we've also lived on much smaller stipends when we were both doing a year long volunteer program, so 1k is really luxurious for us. It's good to have an "eye on the prize." (Every dollar we don't spend now is one that we don't have to pay off later). But at the same time, enjoying where we're at helps us to not feel like we are always waiting for the future.
Re: Lower Cost Glasses. Walmart. I seldom shop there, but I found new frames for $38 that looked almost identical to the $100+ frames. They now have contact lenses there, too. I'm not sure how many stores they have in Australia, but if you can find one, then you can save money there.
Ah, questions I can help with!
For glasses, which I strongly prefer to contacts, I purchase through Zenni Optical. I've had good experiences with them, and because they're so cheap, I can buy a couple pairs for if/when I break them. There are other online sites, too, like 39dollarglasses, eyebuydirect, etc. I can't speak for them, though.
For starting out frugal, the biggest things we did were living in a CHEAP apartment ($750 for a 2 bedroom close to the school where I was teaching is INSANE in Chicago!), drive our old beat up car until it died, and pay cash for a new-to-us car instead of financing it. For meals, we ate a lot of lentils, beans, and soup. My favorite quick lentil recipe is one my husband made up that year - cheesy mustard lentils. "Recipe": cook lentils. Drain, do NOT rinse, you want these warm. Add cheese, preferably cheddar, and mix until it's all gooey. Add mustard, preferably dijon, but anything but honey works well. Enjoy hot.
My husband and I had a baby in University 8 years ago, and now at 29 all my friends are starting to have babies now. It really doesn't seem like they are any better financially but do have better security at their jobs than when we had our daughter. You can get into debt, live paycheck to paycheck or not save enough whether you have kids or not. It's your values that change, and redirecting that money is probably what most parents do. Somehow new kitchen countertops just don't seem as important when their are diapers to buy, children to feed, and the possibility of staying home or daycare to pay for.
Oooh please visit Zenni Optical! The prices are so freaking cheap that you can't pass it up. I will admit--they're really great for spare pairs. For the car. For work. For an extra bag. For when you break yours accidentally and don't have time to get a better pair.
All you need is your prescription (you can get it from your doc). Type all the info in, then click order. They have a pretty good selection of frames too.
I ordered mine for $15 🙂
I just wanted to echo Zenni Optical!
http://www.zennioptical.com/
They start at $6.95 and even with my pretty high prescription I get them for between $7-$10 a pair.I order several each year just to have them!
I second the Cooking for Two books from Cook's Illustrated (America's Test Kitchen). They have really great recipes in them that have been tested 30 times or so to get them right, by the America's Test Kitchen chefs. They have a lasagna recipe that is made in a bread pan that is great! There is also a Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker Cookbook for Two that is good.
As for living cheaply: Rent somewhere cheap, don't have too many pets (and get the ones you do have neutered/spayed!), drive used cars until they completely die, use the library, don't get cable, eat at home (except for 1 or 2 times a month, so that eating out is a special event), bargain for repairs on everything, shop secondhand, buy or make low cost "signature" gifts for others (for example, I ususally give the handprint/footprint clay for baby showers/gifts, and oil lamps/with the oil for graduation and wedding gifts), and give to charity and church with lots of volunteer time.
I'm another Zenni Optical lover. I do have to warn, though--they aren't always just right. Sometimes, I'll order 3 or 4 pairs, and one of them will clearly be...not quite right. At less than $20 each, though, it's still worth it.
I order my contacts through 1800contacts.com. They are cheap and they give you a discount for ordering any amount, though it's obviously cheapest if you order a one year's supply. I ordered 6 months this last time, and they last me forever (though I'm not one to change them every 2 weeks like I'm supposed to!) Also like Kristen, I keep reusing my frames and getting new lenses, but since I don't wear them all the time this isn't a priority for me. But if you want cheap frames (and glasses, for that matter) try Zenni! They have super cheap glasses and they're awesome!
i see a few other people have recommended zenni optical, so add me to the chorus. they now have a thing where you can upload a picture and 'try' the glasses on. i got 3 pairs of glasses for just under $100 (normally my glasses cost at least $300 each), one pair was only $12!
i've ordered contacts through my eye doctor, though i only wear them occasionally (they are the wear once and throw out kind). i don't like contacts much at all, but i usually need them when i play outdoor soccer or swim.
Oh I LOVE the live on 50% of your income advice pre-kids!!!!! I have been preaching that for years (11 to be exact) and people look at me like I have an arm growing out of my head when I say it. I just read today that you should live on 80% with 10% to charity and 10% for savings. I wanted to shake the person giving the advice. Just because you have 80% to spend doesn't mean you should. My husband and I always had decent jobs, but also the type that could end at the drop of a hat so we decided to always live on 50% of our take home pay. As a result we have never ever been in debt, we will have our house paid off in 3 years at 35 years old and all of our 401k's and IRA's are maxed out each year. I truely second that this is the BEST advice anyone could receive. Remember material things will not make you happy, but having money left in your account with no debt at the end of each month will definately make for a happier marriage then the opposite.
I'll ditto everyone else on Zenni optical. I just got 2 pairs of glasses for $38.00. I don't have a difficult prescription, but I do wear glasses all the time so it's great to have some different ones.
When DH and I were first starting out I wish we'd been a bit more frugal intentionally. We were frugal because we had to be, but there's many things I could've done to save even more money. Make a menu is one of the easiest ways you can save money, time and aggravation. Freezing meals is a great idea as well. Even though DH and I both work, that wasn't always the case and we have always lived as though we were on one income (including only purchasing a house where the mortgage could be made with only one of us working). This allowed me to stay home with our DD's or only work part time for quite a few years. For the most part we've saved the other salary and this is what's going to allow us to retire at 55 (just a few short years away!)
Thanks Kristen and readers for the suggestions. For glasses - like Kristen - I have a very poor eyesight and an astigmatism so "cheap" deals often end up having additional costs (for high index lenses). But I will definitely check out Zenni. I don't mean to moan, I am thankful for glasses and contacts - I often wonder how meaningfully I would have been able to contribute to society in an era without them!
Thanks also for the Leapster suggestions - I think online shopping will be most successful, and will keep my eyes peeled everywhere else. At least birthday and Christmas presents for the next several years are now covered!
I'm in the exact same position as questioner #2 - 26 years old, married a year and a half, and pre-kids. We try to cook all of our meals at home save a few date nights here and there. I had NO cooking experience when we first started living together, but now I'd say that I'm quite good at it. It took me about 6 months to become decent though, and I continue to work on making meals healthier.
I love the advise to live on one person's income. We are definitely not there yet, but working towards more and more savings and I only wish we had started earlier. I would also definitely suggest making lunches to take to work instead of eating out all the time. Healthier and SO much cheaper. It's a great way to start with savings, and once you find one way to cut your budget you'll get on a roll and start seeing even more areas available for savings!
And definitely do as Kristen and save up a down payment for your house. Buy LESS house than you can afford. Don't over extend yourselves. We'd be in a much better position without our much too big for us house.
Hi
The Aussie $ and US$ are on parity at the moment.
Still $50 is a lot. We have that problem with DS games. Online sites like eBay are the way to go. Or watch out for BigW specials. I have a couple of friends with kids that also have DS consoles so every holiday we do a 'loan' swap. My daughter gets a couple of different games and so do the other kids and then we swap back after the holidays. Could be an idea as I'm sure there are other parents with the same problem. Or a easy grandparent gift suggestion for the next birthday/christmas????
Thank you for the suggestion of Zenni Optical! With everyone suffesting it, it must be reputable and decently priced! My hubby is in desperate need of a new pair, as is my father! And, we are trying to be WAY frugal, so that is great! It's not a fly-by-nite kinda thing, is it?
Very good advice. The Lions Club is helpful for people that need glasses too. I wish they had more used leapsters and ect.. too.
re contacts - I order from clearly contacts and I-contacts which I know are New Zealand sites but my packages seem to come from the states! I save soo much money buying contacts as well as solutions from those places. So a question to people (and Kirsten) what is bad eye sight? I would love to 'meet' people with the same problems. Everyone that I talk to have 'bad' eyesight when in fact their eyesight is pretty good. I've got stigma in one eye and normal in the other my lenses are -6.5 and -7.5.
Yep, I think that's bad eyesight. My eyes are similar (-6.5 and -7) with astigmatism in both eyes. I think bad eyesight is when you don't have a choice about buying high index lenses ($79 at Zenni Optical). Still cheaper than at a shopping centre!
My husband gets his here. http://Www.goggles4u.com/
I don't even know how they can sell them that inexpensively.
THey are hip. They are cheap. You can see them on my blog if you want.
I always get my contacts at Sam's Club...up to now they are cheaper there than anywhere and it doesn't matter what amount you order. I'm not sure about returning them if they didn't work for your eye though...but i've never had any problems up to now.
Just wanted to share that I found a $10 off Leapster Explorer coupon on the back of a cheerios box!
I'm also a newlywed (married a year and a half). My husband and I are working hard to be as frugal as we can. We're making a concentrated effort to pay off our remaining loan, and accomplish a couple big house projects before we start our family. We know that once the kids come along, money will be even tighter than it is for us now, living on one Christian school teacher salary, when I stay home. We're doing on our best to get our ducks in a row, be good stewards of what we have...and continue to trust that God will provide!