Readers are placing their bets for how much the BJ’s recipe below for lemon-chicken bowtie pasta costs. I’ve shared one clue – it’s less than $12.
Whoever comes closest to guessing without going over (like the Price is Right) wins a one-year membership to BJs, a warehouse club with 187 locations in 15 states. Membership to BJ’s costs $45. If multiple readers guess correctly the prize goes to whoever answered first.
So far readers have guessed as low as $2.73 and as high as $9.73. Your guess should be for the cost of the entire recipe, which makes four servings, not the price per serving.
The contest ends Monday at 11:59 p.m. PST and the winner will be announced Tuesday. Leave your answer as a comment on this post, on my Facebook page, or on Twitter. One guess per email, please.
Lemon-Chicken Bowtie Pasta, serves 4 at ??? price
8 oz. Barilla® Farfalle
4 Perdue® Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts (1¼ lb.)
5 Green Onions, sliced
1 clove Garlic, minced
2 Tbsp. Wesson® Canola Oil
1/ 8 tsp. McCormick® Cayenne Pepper
1½ cups Progresso® Chicken Broth
2 tsp. Grey Poupon® Dijon Mustard
¼ cup fresh Lemon Juice
White Sauce (see below)
1. Cook pasta until al dente. Drain and set aside. 2. Cut chicken into ¾” pieces. Set aside. Heat oil in large skillet over medium high heat. Add green onions and garlic and sauté one minute. 3. Add chicken and sauté, turning chicken occasionally until cooked through, about 12 to 15 minutes. 4. Add pasta, toss and set aside. 5. Adapt Basic White Sauce recipe (see previous page): mix cayenne pepper into flour before adding. Reduce milk by 1½ cups, substituting same amount of chicken broth. Add chicken broth-milk mix to fl our mix per recipe instructions. 6. While sauce is still hot, whisk in mustard and lemon juice, then immediately pour over chicken-pasta mixture; lightly toss to mix. 7. Garnish with sliced lemon and serve immediately.
BASIC WHITE SAUCE Makes 2 cups. Your microwave’s cooking times may vary. Please watch carefully.
4 Tbsp. Land O’Lakes® Sweet Butter
4 Tbsp. Gold Medal® All-Purpose Flour
2 cups Milk
Salt and Black Pepper to taste
1. Melt butter on high in 1-qt., microwave-safe
bowl, about 20 to 30 seconds. 2. Stir in flour, using spoon to break up lumps, until smoothly blended. 3. Add milk, salt and pepper and stir until completely blended. 4. Microwave on high, pausing to stir every 30 seconds or so, until sauce is thick and bubbly, about 1 to 2 minutes. Variation: Add 2 cups of shredded Cracker Barrel® Sharp Cheddar Cheese and toss with cooked elbow macaroni for mac and cheese.
Speaking of buying groceries on a budget, here are seven recipes that serve four people for less than $12 per dish courtesy of BJ’s, a warehouse club on the East Coast. (If you are not near a BJ’s, check out my tips for getting Costco deals without paying for the membership.)
Guess how much each the recipe for Lemon-Chicken Bowtie Pasta costs and the person who comes closest will win a free one-year membership to BJs, valued at $45. Leave your answer as a comment on this post, on my Facebook page, or on Twitter. One guess per email, please.
The giveaway will work a bit like “The Price Is Right.” The reader whose guess comes closest to the amount without going over wins. If multiple readers guess correctly the prize goes to whoever answered first.
BJ’s has 187 locations in 15 states. Find a BJ’s near you.
Lemon-Chicken Bowtie Pasta, serves 4 at ??? price – guess for a chance to win a $45 BJ’s membership
8 oz. Barilla® Farfalle
4 Perdue® Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts (1¼ lb.)
5 Green Onions, sliced
1 clove Garlic, minced
2 Tbsp. Wesson® Canola Oil
1/ 8 tsp. McCormick® Cayenne Pepper
1½ cups Progresso® Chicken Broth
2 tsp. Grey Poupon® Dijon Mustard
¼ cup fresh Lemon Juice
White Sauce (see below)
1. Cook pasta until al dente. Drain and set aside. 2. Cut chicken
into ¾” pieces. Set aside. Heat oil in large skillet over medium high
heat. Add green onions and garlic and sauté one minute.
3. Add chicken and sauté, turning chicken occasionally until
cooked through, about 12 to 15 minutes. 4. Add pasta, toss
and set aside. 5. Adapt Basic White Sauce recipe (see previous
page): mix cayenne pepper into flour before adding. Reduce
milk by 1½ cups, substituting same amount of chicken broth.
Add chicken broth-milk mix to fl our mix per recipe instructions.
6. While sauce is still hot, whisk in mustard and lemon juice,
then immediately pour over chicken-pasta mixture; lightly toss
to mix. 7. Garnish with sliced lemon and serve immediately.
BASIC WHITE SAUCE Makes 2 cups.
Your microwave’s cooking times may vary.
Please watch carefully.
4 Tbsp. Land O’Lakes® Sweet Butter
4 Tbsp. Gold Medal® All-Purpose Flour
2 cups Milk
Salt and Black Pepper to taste
1. Melt butter on high in 1-qt., microwave-safe
bowl, about 20 to 30 seconds. 2. Stir in fl our,
using spoon to break up lumps, until smoothly
blended. 3. Add milk, salt and pepper and stir
until completely blended. 4. Microwave on high,
pausing to stir every 30 seconds or so, until sauce
is thick and bubbly, about 1 to 2 minutes.
Variation: Add 2 cups of shredded Cracker Barrel®
Sharp Cheddar Cheese and toss with cooked elbow
macaroni for mac and cheese. See pasta recipes
for more variations.
For six more recipes that feed four for less than $12, keep reading.
FruitsAndVeggiesMoreMatters.org
Here is an updated list of in-season fruits and vegetables, which are almost always cheaper than buying out-of-season produce. Greater supply…lower prices. The price of items on the winter fruits and vegetable list will be rising.
This list comes from FruitsAndVeggiesMoreMatters.org. Almost all of these spring fruits and vegetables are familiar to me, unlike many of the items on the winter fruits and veggies list.
In-season produce for March, April, and May
Apricots
Artichokes
Asparagus
Belgian Endive * this is good fresh or lightly sauteed with olive oil, salt, and pepper
Broccoli
Butter Lettuce
Chayote Squash
Cherimoya
Chives
Collard Greens
Corn
English Peas
Fava Beans
Fennel
Fiddlehead Ferns * no idea what this is – any recipe suggestions?
Green Beans
Honeydew
Mango
Morel Mushrooms
Mustard Greens
Oranges
Limes
Lychee
Pea Pods
Pineapple
Ramps * again, I have no clue what this is – any ideas?
Rhubarb * pictured above
Snow Peas
Sorrel
Spinach
Spring Baby Lettuce
Strawberries
Sugar Snap Peas
Swiss Chard
Vidalia Onions
Watercress
Click on the items that are underlined in blue for recipe suggestions and fun facts about the fruit or vegetable. Did you know Chayote Squash is a good source of vitamin C and will keep for up to a month if refrigerated in a plastic bag? Or that you should never eat Rhubarb leaves? Deep red Rhubarb stalks are sweet and rich. Unlike some produce, size does not indicate tenderness.
Consumer Reports recently updated their sales calender showing when is the best time to buy some 55 items like cars, clothes, and furniture throughout the year. Here is what’s on the list for March:
- Digital cameras and small consumer electronics like MP3 players, DVD and Blu-ray players (electronics sales surge leading up to Christmas then trail off)
- Humidifiers (winter is almost over so demand is dropping)
- TVs (now that Christmas and the Superbowl are over demand has fallen)
- Winter coats (retailers need to make room for summer swimsuits!)
- Winter sports gear (so there is room to stock summer sports gear)
And here’s a sneak peak for April:
- Computers
- Digital cameras
- Lawn mowers
- Spring clothing
This post is brought to you by CouponCactus.com, a great source of online coupon codes for taxes, groceries, and more.
BargainBabe.com readers are above average – way above! A whopping 75 percent of readers pay off their balance every statement, according to a recent poll in which 161 readers voted. Wow! The national average is 59 percent.
Just a smidge – 22 percent – of BargainBabe.com readers carry a balance. That is half the national average of 41.37 percent of Americans who carry a credit card balance. Another 3 percent of readers chose the ambiguous “other” option, including Danielle, who said “I can’t get a credit card, because I don’t have a credit card.” Hmm, really?
These impressive stats got me thinking…are BargainBabe.com readers above average savers?
Vote first then I’ll tell you how you compare to the national average on the next page!
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Just got some interesting economic factoids from the website BillShrink.com. Are you part of the savings trend?
- 46% of credit card holders paid their bill in full each month in Feb. 2009
- 59% of credit card holders paid their bill in full each month in Feb. 2010
- The average American family had $2,000 in unexpected expenses last year
- Americans have reduced their debt by $101.2 billion in the past 14 months ($1,874 per household)
- We are currently saving at record rates, setting a 15-year high (Check out BillShrink’s super cool graphic about American’s personal savings and debt, which goes back to 1960).
- We still over pay for lots of stuff, including ATM fees, credit card late fees, and dealership auto maintenance (though I’m seeing coupons from dealers these days)
To get this data BillShrink surveyed 154,000 users on its site from February 2009-January 2010. The pay off rate has been steadily increasing each month, according to the responses below.
Yes, I pay off balance each month No, I don’t pay off balance each month
02-09 46.03% 53.97%
03-09 45.92% 54.08%
04-09 41.75% 58.25%
05-09 43.19% 56.81%
06-09 46.28% 53.72%
07-09 46.92% 53.08%
08-09 48.72% 51.28%
09-09 51.21% 48.79%
10-09 51.99% 48.01%
11-09 54.73% 45.27%
12-09 57.25% 42.75%
01-10 58.63% 41.37%
I’m curious how BargainBabe.com readers compare to the national average.
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I don’t have kids and I’m excited about a new site I just learned about called ConsignmentMommies.com, which lists kids consignment sales across the country. The site capitalizes on a newish trend – people buying and selling gently used kids clothing, toys, and gear at massive sales that resemble garage sales on steriods. There are 544 sales listed already.
You can search for sales within 5-100 miles of a particular zip code. A search in my hood resulted in two sales I already knew about and four new ones. Now if only I had kids!
You can post a sale on the site and review sales you’ve been to – all for free. Business listings are for a fee, however. A mother-daughter team launched the site in 2009 and they are still adding features, like a page listing all sales by state.
ConsignmentMommies.com also has a blog with helpful tips. One recent post shared pricing guidelines for maternity and kids clothing:
• Tee shirt $1-2
• Casual Top $3-4
• Dress Top $5
• Jeans $5
• Jean Shorts $2-5
• Shorts $1-4
• Pants $1-4
• Dress pants $3-6
• Casual Dress $3-5
• Dress $5-8
• Suit $10-$15
• Swim Suit $5-10
These sound like great prices to me! One parent I interviewed years ago said she made enough money selling her kid’s old gear, clothing, and toys, to buy what they needed for the next growth spurt. I hope this site helps you find a sale with great prices near you.
My frugal friend and author Stacy Johnson (I reviewed his book Life or Debt not long ago) shared his five tips for negotiating a lower price, a better room, a free upgrade, and lots more. In his post Stacy links to a Consumer Reports video about when bargaining works best. He also shares these stunning statistics from the CR survey:
“These results came from interviewing more than 2,000 men and women who had tried negotiating for at least three years,” he writes. “The numbers below reflect how many achieved a discount at least once during that three year period, along with the greatest discount any of them achieved.”
- Furniture: 94% of those who asked got a better deal at least once.
- Medical Bills: 93% of people who tried negotiating a lower bill were successful at least once.
- Home Electronics: 92% were successful at least once.
- Appliances: 92% were successful at least once.
- Floor Models/demos: 91% were successful at least once.
- Credit Card/Bank Fees: 87% were successful at least once.
- Jewelry: 86% were successful at least once.
- Cell Phone Plans: 80% were successful at least once.
- Collectibles: 78% were successful at least once.
Those are pretty amazing statistics! Of course, they neglect to say how many attempts were made before success. I am successful about 25-50 percent of the time I ask for a discount or perk. But I don’t ask every time, and it’s taken me a lot of practice to get good at playing the customer service game. Here are the negotiating tips I live by.
My grandmother could copy a pattern from a dress she tried on in the store and she sewed many of her children’s clothes. The sewing gene skipped my mother (by forceable choice) and landed in me. At least, it tried to.
Two months ago I decided to make my own curtains as part of a project to re-decorate my bedroom. When a coupon for 50 percent off at Jo-Anns fabric store landed in my inbox, I was raring to go. I even had a few dollars on a gift card to apply.
I arrived at the store and was delighted to see nearly everything was on sale by 40 – 50 percent off. I could save my coupon for a regular-priced bolt of material and get other items at a steep discount, too.
I carefully searched the aisles of fabric for the perfect material and discovered wonderful terry cloth for towels that you can buy at a fraction of what the finished product costs at Macy’s or Target. Bath sheets for $5.99 a yard? Sign me up! I also spotted fuzzy flannel for $4.99 a yard. New sheets in no time!
Then I came upon the most steeply marked down fabrics in the store: the discount rack. Some of the material was down right fugly, other pieces were damaged. One bolt was irresistible. For $12.50 (orig. $24.99), I could buy one yard of heaven – a cream-colored piece of suede-lined, fuzzy sherpa goodness. My plan was to turn the material into two pillow coverings. (Pillow insides were 50 percent off, sealing the deal).
I purchased the sherpa material along with 11 yards of brown suede (40 percent off) to make curtains. I ran out of brown thread shortly after starting the curtains so I turned my attention to the pillows. I made as few cuts as possible (reducing my chances of error) and got to work sewing a cozy three-sided enclosure for my pillow, top. On the fourth side I sewed on three buttons, above right (simpler than a zipper, I reasoned).
The material was difficult to work with because it is very thick and the fuzz got caught in the string many times. I didn’t run out of thread, but I did run out of time so the project stretched from Friday night to Sunday afternoon. Overall I spent $25.50 (and forgot to use my gift card 
) to buy two pillows and the pillow cover material. I devoted five hours over three days to completing one pillow.
A waste of time? Me thinks not. The process was very entertaining and I renewed my appreciation for sewers, quilters, and knitters. As for making towels and sheets? I may just wait for a great sale at Target.
Sewing lessons:
- Measure thrice, cut once
- If you don’t have pins to hold material in place, needles will do
- You can undo a lot of stitches, but it’s a total pain in the a**
- Sewing straight lines is actually very difficult
- Lumps mean it was made with love
Zooopreme/Flickr
I’ve gushed before about how cool of a magazine ShopSmart is. The no-ad publication is put out by Consumer Reports so it’s trustworthy and it is geared towards savvy-spenders. When it arrives in my mailbox it’s a little bit of heaven.
The March 2010 issue has a cool story (p. 7) on making new jeans look worn-in. Did you know distressing jeans is a huge part of the cost of designer denim? I didn’t. ShopSmart has s number of tips to get a worn-in designer jean look, which I’ve summarized below:
1. Soften your new jeans by washing them several times with fabric softener and a clean pair of tennis shoes.
2. Don’t over do it. Wear your new jeans around the house to see where they naturally crease, then emphasize those lines with the tricks below. Seams on the side, back pockets, and knees are natural wear spots.
3. If you use bleach, put a layer of plastic wrap in the leg so you don’t get mirror bleach spots on the other side. Place a block of wood other other durable material inside the leg to protect the rest of the fabric.
4. Sandpaper will create a “fuzzy effect” when you rub it on the denim. A pumice stone is also a good tool to wear down spots. A cheese grater will do greater damage, creating rips and snags. Test a small patch, look at the effect, and work slowly.
5. Snip the hem and pocket edges with small scissors to create a frayed look.
6. Change the color of your jeans by lightening with small amounts of bleach (apply with a rag or sponge, ShopSmart says). Or you can darken for a “dirty” look with fabric dye, such as Rit or strong coffee.
7. If you’re not sure what distressed look you want, flip through magazines, fashion websites, or take pictures of jeans you see in stores.
This sounds like such a fun project! I can’t wait to try it on my next pair of jeans. On second thought, I may try some of these techniques on older pairs of jeans that I don’t care much about, then apply my new skills to a new pair.
This could also be a great project for a teen who wants jeans that are 100 percent unique.
soapylovedeb/Flickr
I have an intense itch to make my own soap, partly because my past attempts to clean with vinegar and baking soda were so successful. If I can make my own cleaning products for less that work, why not?
My sister used to own a soap business so I know making bar soap is a huge ordeal that involved vats of olive oil and lye, a dangerous chemical.
But there is another option. Laundry detergent, which I am also low on. My friend Matt Jabs of FiveCentNickel made his own laundry detergent and reports “I CANNOT STRESS ENOUGH HOW INCREDIBLY FAST & EASY IT WAS.” (His caps, not mine.)
Matt’s recipe calls for 55 ounce box of Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda, a 76 ounce box of 20 Mule Team Borax, and 10 pack of 4.5 ounce bars of Ivory Bar Soap (or another cheap bar soap.)
I plan to add a few drops of essential lavender oils to give my clothes a nice scent. I hope to pick up these ingredients later this week and will let you know how my first soap-making adventure goes!
Loading ...UPDATE: Reader Pauline recommends an alternative to Ivory:
The best soap to use is Fels Naphta, a bit more expensive but worth it. Where does Matt purchase the Washing Soda? Thanks
Rabbi Wendy has a great tip for home made cleaners.
The most amazing and effective book of recipes for household products is “Clean House, Clean Planet” by Karen Logan. It is still in print, with plenty of copies on Amazon. The recipe for spray cleaner on page 85 is the best spray cleaner I’ve ever used, hands down. Logan is so thorough in her explanations. She even sells bottles for the finished products. It’s a fun read, even if you don’t make any of the cleaning products. Check it out!
I went ahead and checked Amazon, which has Clean House, Clean Planet for $10.76 (orig. $15). I might buy it if my library does not have it.
SECOND UPDATE: Susan warns:
I made this detergent a few months ago, a word of caution, my dark purple towels faded a little using it. I now use it for whites and light colors but not black or really dark colors. Also the arm and hammer super washing soda is sold at Albertson’s. It is the only place around the valley I could find it.
i yudai/Flickr
Consumer Reports just updated their sales calender showing when is the best time to buy about 55 items like cars, clothes, furniture, and more. February includes houses and condos, humidifiers, indoor furniture, treadmills and elliptical machines.
Consumer Reports also shares these tips, which don’t fit so well into the monthly lists.
“Airline tickets tend to be least expensive to buy on Tuesday afternoon through Thursday. Worst days to fare shop are Saturday and Sunday.
“CDs and DVDs generally come out on Tuesdays and might be on sale for the first one to three weeks.
“Jewelry sales are common, except around Valentine’s Day and the December holidays. So plan to buy early or hope that your beloved will settle for an IOU.”
One of my favorite coupon bloggers, Bargain Briana, has put together a map of frugal bloggers across the country. You can use it to find a blogger near you who shares coupon matches, freebies, and saving tips.
Right now there are 35 bloggers listed in 19 states, including AR, AZ, CA, FL, GA, KS, KY, IL, IN, MD, MI, MO, OH, PA, RI, TN, TX, VA, WI. Gasp! BargainBabe.com is not listed! Just a minute folks…I’m adding myself right now.
Beyond finding a blogger that writes about stores in your neighborhood, you can look at an RSS feed of blog posts from everyone in the network, connect with individal bloggers on Twitter and Facebook, and embed the map on your site.
The Frugal Map is a great idea. I wish I had done it myself!
viZZual.com/Flickr
I was shopping with a girlfriend who at the end of our jaunt checked the time and said “I hope I didn’t get a parking ticket!”
“How much money did you put in the meter,” I asked.
“36 minutes.”
I tried to hide my scowl. I hoped for her sake that she didn’t get a ticket, but I was exasperated that she had not forked over one or two extra quarters for peace of mind.
We reached her car. Phew, no ticket. I hugged my friend goodbye and walked onto my car, where the patient meter read 45 minutes. At a dollar an hour, I had put in $.75 extra.
My friend had gotten away with paying less for parking and I couldn’t help but wonder if my $.75 a waste – or a wise investment? Is it always financially savvy to overfeed the meter? Or is it wiser to save my coins and risk getting a ticket?
I did one calculation to figure it out.
1. Say you park at a meter once a week and put in an extra 45 minutes – $.75 on many Los Angeles meters – each time. That means you are putting in an extra $39 a year ($.75 x 52 weeks). If a parking tickets costs $40, that means you can overfeed the meter for an entire year and still come up ahead (by $1).
But how often do you get caught for under feeding? I guesstimate that the meter maid catches me about one in 10 times I underfeed. If I underfed a meter once a week for a year, I would save that $39 in extra quarters but end up with five parking tickets, one every 10 weeks. (If you think you get caught more often or less often by the meter maid, then change how many tickets per year you would receive.) At $40 each my tickets would total $200, a net loss of $161.
Clearly, it makes a lot of sense to generously overpay the meter.
Run this calculation for your hometown meter and ticket prices using this formula:
the cost of putting an extra 45 minutes in the meter x 52 weeks = yearly cost of over feeding the meter
the cost of five parking tickets in your hometown – yearly cost of over feeding = how much you can save by over feeding
UPDATE: Reader Mira says:
In Long Beach, tickets are $44!! It takes A LOT of extra coins pumped in to get to that amount! (Like 660!! 440 nickels + 220 dimes!) Don’t chance it. I find I don’t need to add 45 extra minutes, even 12 or 15 extra minutes gives a nice cushion — depends on what you’re doing that day.
somethingstartedcrazy/Flickr
BargainBabe.com really is a group effort. This latest tip comes from my little brother!
I had to charge my phone for a couple of hours, so I went to the T -mobile store and saw the price of the charger (24 dollars). I only needed the charger for a day so I started talking about how much my situation sucked and the lady at the store said I could charge my phone at the store for free.
Not bad, John! I like going to Costco and Len’s Crafters for their free eye glass cleanings!
