See Jane Get Rich

Food can be one of the biggest expenses after housing.  This is especially true if law school (job or family) takes up most of your time (check) and you are not very good at cooking (check).  My twin goal every month is to keep my food expenses low and try to spend the least amount of time in the kitchen.  I want things that are simple to cook, relatively healthy and filling.

 You know my penchant for free food usually in the form of free sandwiches, free chipotle burritos and free pizza from school.  But, a girl can’t keep living on just the free stuff.  To keep my food costs down and my tummy full, there are a few items that I routinely eat:

 Rice

Basmati rice is my favorite kind of rice due to its unique texture and because it isn’t sticky.  It is also super simple and easy to make.  I cook white basmati rice in a rice cooker.  This will usually take 15-20 minutes.  I will make more than I need so I will have rice to eat for a few days.  You can pair rice as a side to almost anything.  Also basmati rice packs a good nutritional punch because it is a good source of iron, selenium, thiamine, and niacin. 

Spaghetti/pasta

I have a lot of spaghetti, pasta and macaroni in my cupboards because it is cheap and filling.  I usually like to make spaghetti and meat balls with melted cheese on top or have it with just the sauce.  Pasta is an excellent complex carbohydrate with almost no fat. 

 Eggs

I love eggs.  They are such a great source of cheap protein, and if you throw away a few of the egg yolks then you can lower the fat content as well.  The only downside with eggs would be the sodium content.  I like to make French toast or scrambled eggs for breakfast and sandwiches for lunch. 

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Women Personal Finance Bloggers Rock!

I have repeatedly turned to WiseBread’s List of Personal Finance Blogs by Women to find new personal finance blogs to read.  But, occassionally I find that some of the links are inactive or broken. 

This is understandable since the list was posted on August 5, 2008. While I wait for WiseBread to come out with an up to date list of personal finance bogs by women I am providing the list of blogs with links that work and that are active. The blog is considered active if there was a post for the month of October.  I am leaving out non-personal blogs such as blogs hosted by newspapers and other businesses.  Ggoing through all the blogs took quite a lot of time but I had fun reading about personal finance from various perspectives.  Please let me know if there is a blog out there on WiseBread’s list that’s not here but may have moved to its own domain name or changed its name and such other things.  Are there any other blogs that should be on this list?   

Also, I am trying to get a list of new personal finance blogs started by women in 2009.  It can be very hard starting and keeping any blog going and I want to be sure to find and support other new personal finance blogs by women.  So, share away!

• Almost Frugal

• The Baglady
• Barbara Stanny
• Beach Girl’s Budget Blog
• Being Frugal
• Being Money Smart
• Blogging Away Debt
• BlogHer
• Brunette on a Budget
• Brown Eyed Girl and Money
• BostonGals

• Chief Family Officer
• Counting My Pennis

• Debt Marathon
• Digerati Life
• Distilled Rose
• Debt Hater
• Don’t Mess with Taxes
• Dog Ate my Finances

  
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How Sexy is My Budget?

Budget $1,000 

Fixed                                       $815   

• Rent & Utilities
  • Rent:                   $750
  • Internet:            $25
  • Electric:             $25
• Car Insurance         $0
• Cell Phone                  $15 

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I took out $50 for my month’s expenses and right now with 11 more days to go I have in my wallet a grand total of $5 bucks.  Where did it all go?  Maybe it was time to take that big drastic step I knew would come one day. 

Jane: Forgive me, personal finance blogging community, for I have sinned.   I confess to you Gentle Reader, to all the Great Personal Finance Bloggers, and to you Almighty Personal Finance God that it has been a long time since I have kept a budget.

Personal Finance Father:  (attempts to hide shock and surprise) Daughter, do not fear. (takes a deep breath) How long has it been since you failed to keep a budget?

Jane: Oh, Personal Finance Father, I actually never kept a budget! (looks down with guilt) I have heard of these budgets but they seemed to be like some kind of fantastic myth for people with orderly finances, but never something that could accommodate my wild, unpredictable law school finances.  Read the rest of this entry »