Five Things I Don't Buy Anymore

These few months have been tough for breadwinners. In light of the rising prices here in the Philippines, most moms have a hard time staying within budget. And when money is tight, we really have no choice but to buy the basic essentials and veer away from non-essentials.
Hirap kaya mag-budget!

So while we're on the budgeting subject, I  want to share a few things i stopped buying. I decided not to spend money on these anymore. That's because one,  they're way too expensive and  two, I opted to make them myself and three, i can;t justify the cost anymore.

Pancake mix, waffle mix or cake or cookie mixes  

I dabbled into baking a few years back. Then I discovered that a kilo of flour is just around
Php 60. This makes a dozens of pancakes already, as opposed to prepackaged pancake mix. Sure, pancake mixes are more convenient but they cost way too much. A small box of pancake mix costs around Php 30, that gives you about 5 regular sized pancakes. Sure, it takes a few more steps in the morning and more bowls to clean, but for me, the savings is worth it. I think going the home made route is better for us since we eat pancake for breakfast almost everyday.

I don't buy the ready mix cookies and cake as well.  If you have the basic baking ingredients in your pantry, like flour,  baking powder , vanilla extract, you can already learn to make cake and cookies! No need to buy the overpriced cake mixes anymore. Plus i get to nurture by love for baking.

The easiest way to save money

If anyone asks me, what's the easiest way to save money, i would say, it's to automate savings and investment! It's a money saving hack everyone with a payroll account should do.

Based on my experience, i'm just too lazy to keep a separate account for my savings. What i did back then was to manually deposit my saving to a separate bank account (with a different bank, i should add) with a passbook. I used a passbook account separate from my payroll ATM because I simply don't trust myself not to touch what remains in my atm account.

However doing the actual task of  depositing every payday seemed tedious. The bank is literally steps away from my office, yet i'm  too lazy to go there in person to deposit my fund. Sometimes the lines at the teller are just too long or i just can't spare a few minutes because i'm way too busy at work. (Yes, i know, there are too many excuses.)

Then i tried opening a separate savings account which i can access via online banking.

Yes, at first, it worked because i no longer have to personally go to the bank to deposit. But i just find it too hard to just leave the money there especially at "petsa de peligro" days - those few days just before the next paycheck, if you know what I mean.

I tried to discipline myself and be responsible, but it was just too easy to transfer money from my designated savings account to my payroll  via online.

This left me  with zilch amount of savings by the end of the month!

So i thought of some other way for me to easily tuck away my money and yet  it would take an effort  to withdraw.

In comes the "hidden" wonders of automatic banking.

Image from consumerfinance.gov

Did you know that some banks allow you to "automatically" save and  directly invest a portion of your salary regularly?

Money Wisdom from my Mother

Kung maigsi ang kumot, matutong mamaluktot. As kids, this was our family's mantra. Yeah, we were not born rich and we had our share of "poverty" moments but i am amazed at how my mother worked her magic and stretched our family budget.  I used to hate how "kuripot" my mother was. But having a kuripot mom, well money wise, i'd say now, put me and my two others sibling through college, so i'm so thankful for that now.

I really to hope to be like my mom and be able to support my son until he graduates. In our country, it is in deed a feat to put through a child through college but the hubby and i are doing our very best to go on our way just to give our son the best.

Tofu with Spicy Sauce

Here's one more of my go-to dishes.

What you'll need :
4 blocks of tofu
oil for frying the tofu

1. Cut tofu in 1/2 inch cubes, rinse with running water and then drain on paper towel.
2. Fry until golden brown.
3. Set aside.

For the sauce:
1 medium sized white onion, in two 1 cm cubes
1 clove garlic minced
1 stem green onion, minced
1 tbsp korean  pepper flakes (gochugaru)
1 tbsp soy sauce
1tbsp sugar

1. In 1/2 cup water, add sugar, pepper flakes and soy sauce. Set aside.
2. Heat about 2 tsp oil then saute white onion, garlic and green onion.
3. Save some green onion for garnish.
4.  When the onion is translucent, add the pepper flakes mixture.
5. When the mixture starts to simmer, add the tofu.
6. Cook for 5 more minutes.
7. Garnish with green onion then serve.

***

Glazed Fried Chicken

Here's another dish i love cooking. Lately i've been spending a looot of time wathcing Maangchi's  video and that's how i got the idea for this dish.  

GLAZED FRIED CHICKEN 

For the chicken

1/2 kilo chicken wings (about 6 pieces) 

1/4 tsp salt 

1/4 tsp chili powder 

2 cloves garlic minced  

1/4 cup rice flour 

2 cups oil for frying 

1. Prepare chicken. Cut wings at segment to make 12 pieces. Wash well and drain on paper towel. Season with salt, chili powder and garlic. Marinate for at least 15 minutes. 

2. Dredge in flour and set aside for 5 minutes before frying. 

3. Fry in medium heat for 10 minutes. Drain on paper towel. 

4. Do a second fry until golden brown. Drain on paper towl. 

For the glaze

2 tbsp butter 

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 tsp soy sauce 

2 tbsp sugar 

1. On low fire, fry garlic in butter until slightly browned. 

2. Add soy sauce and sugar. mix well until sugar is melted. 

3. Add fried chicken until well coated. 

4. Serve immediately.  

This is best enjoyed with ice cold beer, in my opinion.

Meat ball spaghetti

How to save money? It's probably a question most frequently asked by budget conscious moms like me.

Well i know i sure fire way to make sure to save money on food. the key is, avoid eating out and bring your own baon.  i probably halved our expenses on food by just making sure that the hubby and i bring our own lunch at work.

So now i'm sharing some of my go to recipes for our packed meals.
First off is my crowd favorite (ahem... ahem)  meal ball spaghetti.

Meat Ball Spaghetti

For the meatball you'll need:
1/4 kilo lean ground beef
1 small onion (minced)
1 clove garcic (minced)
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper flakes
1/4 tsp ground oregano
canola oil (about 2 tbsp only)

1. Put everything in a bowl,
2. Mix well until everything is well combined.
3. Form into 1 inch balls. You can make around 8 to 10 meatballs.
4. Fry these in  oil.
5. Set aside while making the sauce

For the sauce:
2 cups tomato sauce
1 to 3 tbsp water
1 tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 small onion, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 pinch ground oregano.
1 tbsp oil

1. Saute onion until translucent. Then add a pinch of ground oregano.
2. Add garlic. Lightly fry and do not let it burn.
3. Add the meat balls.
3. Pour in the tomato sauce, water and sugar. Let it simmer for up to 10 minutes on medium heat.
4. Add  salt and pepper to taste. 

Pasta
250 g uncooked pasta.

1. Cook pasta following package instructions.

To serve, top pasta with meatball sauce.
You can also top with grated parmesan cheese.
When i serve this for baon, i keep them in separate containers and let the husband mix it when ready to eat. Luckily his office has a microwave.

Minimalist Dish - Aglio Oglio

Do you love oil-based pasta? I do!
What i love about these  pasta is it requires just a few ingredients.
Plus, cooking takes literally minutes!
I make Aglio Olio pasta during  weeknights, after work because it's fairly simple to cook.

My Aglio Olio 

Aglio Olio 

You'll need:

• Olive oil (60 ml) 
• Pepper flakes (1 tbsp or more if you like it spicy) 
• Garlic (1 whole head )
• Pasta (about 100 grams uncooked. I find this dish works best with angel  hair pasta)