Mighty Bargain Hunter

Is community-supported agriculture a bargain?

Stumble it! Tip it! Facebook it! | 12/26/11

When it’s time to cut back on family expenditures, a prime place to start is with the food budget.  Once the “easy” savings are implemented — first by eating out a lot less, then by buying store brand or bulk, and then by preparing meals more from scratch — then it becomes more of challenge to cut further.

One possible opportunity for further savings, especially if you enjoy fresh produce, is through community-supported agriculture.  The way this works is as follows:

• A farm offers shares of his production for sale, ahead of the production and growing season.
• People buy shares for a set price.  This offsets the farm’s operating expenses prior to the production season.
• As the crops are harvested (or the products made) each person receives their share(s), usually over several months.

There are some advantages of getting produce through community-supported agriculture arrangements.  First, the food is fresh.  It doesn’t get much fresher.  Second, there is the opportunity to understand exactly what goes into the food:  what kind of fertilization, what kind of feed, what kind of pest control, what kind of irrigation methods, etc.  This creates confidence that the food is wholesome because the growing method is transparent.  Third, it supports the local economy through job creation and maintenance.

All well and good, but is community-supported agriculture a bargain?

This arrangement is certainly good for the farm.  A share might give a lot of produce, or only a little produce, or possibly nothing, depending on weather and other acts of God.  That’s an inherent risk of the purchase of a share.  Regardless, the farm gets the money.  It’s a bit like the farm selling a futures contract, but the quantity is left undetermined.

But let’s say that the weather cooperates, and the crops grow well.  Some other factors come into play:

• Are the crops what you like to eat?  You might end up getting eggplant and turnips at 3 cents per pound, but if you can’t stand eggplant or turnips, you’re out of luck.  Check into what the typical crops are.
• Is the typical amount of food too much?  Your share is your share.  Can you go through all of the food that you’ve already bought?  If not, then it may be more economical just to buy it in the store.
• Is the typical amount of food too little for what you pay?  A CSA arrangement should be able to give information about what was delivered for a share in previous seasons.  Check out what was given, and see if the typical quantities are worth the price.
• How far do you have to travel to pick up your share?  One CSA arrangement we looked at was from a farm about 45 minutes away.  The farm wouldn’t deliver the food; we would have had to pick it up.  The gas would have nearly doubled the cost of the produce.  If the farm were nearby, then this wouldn’t have been an issue.  With gas north of $3 per gallon, this can be a significant consideration.

Buying a share in community-supported agriculture may be a bargain, but it can just as easily not be.  In either case, though, there are the indirect benefits that come from supporting a local farm that might be very important to an individual.  Then, cost may not be the big consideration.

Posted in Three Green Rs | 4 Comments »

$25 Restaurant.com dining voucher for $0.65 through Christmas Eve 2011

Stumble it! Tip it! Facebook it! | 12/21/11

The price cuts of price cuts is back!  Normally Restaurant.com sells their $25 dining certificates for $10.  Through December 24th, 2011, you can get 90% off this price on most of their $25 certificates using coupon code JOY.  (I’ll help with the math: that’s one dollar.)

But that’s not all!  Head over to Mr. Rebates, sign up, and score an additional 35% off cash back when you click through to Restaurant.com over there!  That makes 65 cents for a $25 voucher for qualifying purchases at thousands and thousands of restaurants nationwide.

(Too much work?  There’s nothing against heading straight over to Restaurant.com to get one for a buck.  No-sir-ee!)

Just double-check the terms and conditions which will be clearly visible next to your chosen restaurant.

Posted in Deals and Steals, Dining, Rewards | 3 Comments »

Bargain shopping without the mobs — even now

Stumble it! Tip it! Facebook it! | 12/18/11

Some of my wife’s Facebook friends posted some pictures the bumper-to-bumper traffic into the local mall / retail area today.  It’s definitely not the best time to run in and out of stores for a few things, being a week before Christmas and all that.

So we stopped at our local antique mall this afternoon.  It was more crowded than usual, but nowhere near the traffic level at the typical retail outlets.  That, and since many antique malls have a large variety of sellers, there is a similar large variety of types of merchandise.  It’s more part antique mall, part flea market, part craft mall / boutique shop.  We found the standard assortment of antiques:  depression glass, occupied Japan figurines, washboards, pump organs, old advertising signs, etc.  But others had hundreds of books both old and new, CDs, DVDs, and more.  One seller had fossilized shark teeth (which we got for our daughter).  Another had dollhouse furniture.  And of course there were plenty of booths that had a mishmash of unusual items.  We found a painted gourd for one of my relatives that would go great with their decor.

Heading to an antique mall can mean making an end run around the holiday crowds.  As an added bonus, the gifts that you find for your friends and family can potentially mean more since the gifts from these places are a little harder to track down than ones that can be bought at Amazon.  If you get them at a steep discount, so much the better!

Posted in Bargains, Holidays, Uncategorized | 4 Comments »

Christmas dinner on a Scrooge budget

Stumble it! Tip it! Facebook it! | 12/12/11

It’s that time of year again when the only thing that’s stretched tighter than our budget is our nerves. Christmas shopping can put a huge financial strain on the average family, but it’s even worse if you are the one pegged to cook the Christmas family dinner.

It’s natural to want to put on a flashy looking meal that looks and tastes delicious, but by the time the big day rolls around, most of the budget has already been blown on filling little Johnny’s stocking with awesome electronics. The good news is that Christmas dinner can be done on the cheap, and none of it involves stealing or shooting the neighborhood pigeons.

It’s human nature to want to wrap the presents in sumptuous paper with a massive bow on top, but that type of packaging doesn’t come cheap. The same can be said for food makers, all of whom put their products in packages that are designed to catch your eye and make you buy. But the packaging is no indication of the quality of the food inside. You can save yourself a fair amount of cash, simply by ditching the gold trimmed paper, and buying a less extravagant looking package of the same food.

Oftentimes the dinner party gets started with some little snacks or finger food, and while most of those are available in the frozen, pre-packaged section of the supermarket, you can save a ton by just making them yourself. Canapes are a perfect example of a food that’s expensive to buy packaged, but cheap to make at home. Your dinner guests will love that you made the effort to do a little cooking DIY. It’s also smart to keep in mind that your guests will be doing a lot of eating throughout the course of the day, so keep the dinner fairly simple and stick with a couple of sides, rather than offering all the trimmings.

Try not to go too overboard when you are buying the food you need. Avoid pre-packaged food as much as possible, and don’t go for an ostrich-sized turkey when you know that a good portion of it will end up in the trash, or as permanently uneaten leftovers. It’s understandable to want to make sure that your guests get enough to eat, but allowing a Tiny-Tim-sized amount of common sense to prevail will leave your wallet thanking you for weeks to come. The same rule applies when it comes to drinks and desserts, as in most countries it’s expected that guests will bring a bottle of wine or some sort of candy treat with them. By all means pick up a couple of items, but let your guests do their share too.

Christmas is a time of giving and sharing, but you can easily do that without having to take out a second mortgage on your home. Guests are usually always friends and family, and they will be delighted with the effort that you have made to feed them, even if it means they don’t get both mashed and roasted potatoes.

Posted in Dining, Frugal Living, Holidays | 5 Comments »