Every week I will share our meal plan for the coming week. Making your own food is a great way to save money, explore new cuisine, and eat healthy (if you choose to make healthy foods). A good meal helps bring people together and as you improve your cooking skills you will impress more and more people! I generally use recipes as a starting off point and then experiment with different proportions or ingredients. Leftovers make great lunches for the 9-5 crowd who might otherwise have to decide between a sandwich or a pricey cafeteria.
It’s been awhile since I’ve done a “What’s for Dinner?” post. Here are some recipes that we have either eaten in the past week or will be eating in the coming week.
This Week For Dinner…
Seafood Salad Supreme
Are you getting tired of the same old seafood recipes week after week? Try this recipe that combines shrimp and (imitation) crab meat in a zesty cold salad. We made a couple of variations, like adding peas and sautéing the red pepper.
Pasta w/ Peas and Sausage
This recipe has been a favorite in our house. It’s not hard to see why!
Broccoli Chicken Divan (Soup)
The last time we made this recipe there were hardly any leftovers. Yum!
Great news! Frugal Boy’s social security card came in the mail today making him an official drone of the system. His future earnings will power my retirement. He doesn’t seem to like that concept much at the moment however.
A big advantage of having a SSN is that all sorts of financial doors are now open to him. He can now have a bank account to safely save money and even more importantly, he can now be listed as the beneficiary of a 529 college savings plan.
What is a 529 Plan?
SavingForCollege.com describes it as,
A 529 Plan is an education savings plan operated by a state or educational institution designed to help families set aside funds for future college costs. It is named after Section 529 of the Internal Revenue Code which created these types of savings plans in 1996.
My own simplified explanation is that a 529 savings plan works in much the same way as a Roth retirement account. You contribute post-tax money to the 529. That money then grows through increases in the stock market until the beneficiary of the account withdraws the money for educational expenses. If that was too confusing, think of it this way. A 529 is a legal loophole that the IRS created to encourage parents to save money for their kids future without the normal taxation that would be applied. The only condition that the IRS puts in place for not taxing the growth in the investments is that the money must be used towards education.
How do I setup a 529?
Start by finding who manages your state’s plan. Vanguard has put together a handy state map that will make this and comparison shopping easy. Each state offers a 529 plan. You do not have to use your state’s plan. For example, we live in Illinois, but we could enroll in the Nevada 529 plan. It also does not matter where the college is located. If you want your son or daughter to attend an Ivy League college, you do not have to use one of those state’s 529 plans.
We decided to use the Illinois 529 plan (Bright Start®; College Savings Program (Direct-sold)). We can deduct our contributions on our state taxes and the minimum amount to open an account is astonishingly low (only $25).
Bright Start advertises that it only takes 15 minutes to enroll. If Frugal Boy hadn’t been fussy, that might have been true. I did like the fact that you can setup a monthly contribution from your checking account. We started off with a small monthly contribution. It is money that we have saved by being frugal and cutting costs elsewhere in our lives. This is part of the reason why we lead a frugal lifestyle, so we can put money towards things that will make a meaningful impact. Even with a small monthly contribution, the amount set aside by the time Frugal Boy starts college will have grown substantially. Investing and savings favor the young.
Now that his 529 is set up, any gift money he receives will be put towards his education savings unless specified otherwise. Thank you all of those who gifted money to Frugal Boy. That money has been socked away for his noggin later in life!
Today is the Illinois Primary election and as primaries go, it is predicted to have a low voter turnout (25-30%). Many voters are either apathetic or simply don’t know about primary elections. Unlike general elections where a candidate from each party squares off against the other (Obama vs Romney), the primary election decides the party’s candidate for the general election. So if you complain that there are never any good candidates in a general election, it’s because you didn’t vote for them in the Primary!
Also, primary elections include many local positions and questions. For instance, our county sheriff is being elected today because there is no democrat challenger, so whomever wins the primary vote for sheriff gets the job. We have a semi-closed election in Illinois, meaning that in the Primary you can pick what ballot you want (Republican, Democrat, Green, NonPartisan, etc.). The next primary you can choose a different one! Choose the ballot that gives you a greater voice in the outcome of the elections.
A big local impact that will affect citizens directly is a proposed increase in sales tax from 7.25% to 8.25%. If you only ever vote in general elections, you may be missing out on the chance to voice your opinion on matters that affect you.
We took a family walk to our nearby polling place this morning.
Frugal Boy wasn’t impressed with the democratic process. We’ll have to work on that attitude.
It has been a long cold winter here in the Midwest so when the forecast hit a balmy 60° the other day we had to get out and enjoy the weather. One of the cheapest forms of entertainment and exercise is hiking. You really don’t need any special gear. This was our first hike with Frugal Boy and he grunted and slept the entire 2 miles.
Frugal Boy isn’t quite strong enough to hike in a backpack style carrier, so we carted him around in a Boba wrap. It is basically a 2 meter long strip of spandex/jersey fabric that you wrap around your body.
The trails were super muddy from all of the snow melt. That made it really easy to spot animal tracks. Can you identify what left these tracks?
The trail meandered through the prairie before going into the woods. As we walked along we came across what looked like some wind damage.
It wasn’t too much farther and we were back in the prairie looking at the nature center.
It was great getting out for a hike even if it was a little (okay, a lot) muddy. It won’t be long before Frugal Boy can hike on his own two feet and add to our collection of dirty clothes.
That’s okay! Laundry is cheap to do and little boys are meant to get dirty. We were all tuckered out after our short hike.
He won’t remember his first hike at all but we want to get him started early on a healthy and cheap form of entertainment. When was the last time you went on a hike?
