Recession, Smession: What Does Your Recession Spending Look Like?
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2020 Update: We still think this poll on recession spending is really interesting; you may want to check out our more recent discussion on how to change your spending in a recession.
Last week we asked: How has the recession affected your spending and saving habits? Although we're all peeking through our fingers as we check on our 401Ks and various accounts, the good news is that it hasn't affected us that much.
- 46% of voters said they weren't doing anything differently
- 28% of voters are looking at these plunging prices as a great time to stock up (ha! ha) on stocks and other investments
- 13% noted that they'd moved money around so no more than $100K was in one spot at once
- 9% said they were carpe diem-ing it up and living for today
- 3% said they were taking money out of their bank and hiding it in pickle jars in their backyard.
Commenters noted that they were trying to take less cabs and eating out less… (same here!) One commenter also noted that she was going to buy a house sooner than anticipated. (You go, girl!)
As always, the poll is still open — if you haven't voted yet, please go do so! And, just for kicks, if you have a recession-favorite recipe, post it in the comments below…
Pictured: 337/365: The Big Money,originally uploaded by DavidDMuir.
I’ll bite — not so sure how recession friendly this is, but it sure is yummy and relatively low calorie (for, you know, a Baked Mac & Cheese). This recipe serves 4.
Ingredients:
* 1 1/2 cup(s) fat-free skim milk
* 1 tbsp unsalted butter
* 3/4 tsp table salt
* 1 cup(s) water
* 1/2 cup(s) seasoned croutons
* 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
* 2 tbsp Smart Balance 37% Light Spread Margarine
* 1 box of barilla plus elbows (or wheat elbow mac)
* 2 serving(s) Annie’s Dijon mustard (1 tsp)
* 2/3 cup(s) Kraft 2% Milk Natural cheese Finely Shredded Sharp Cheddar Cheese
* 1 cup Veggie Shreds
* 1 tbsp minced garlic
* 1 Tbsp hellman’s light mayo
* 6 tbsp fat-free evaporated milk
Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Cook the macaroni in a large pot of boiling salted water until it’s tender but still a bit firm in the middle. Drain the pasta, reserving 1 cup of its cooking water.
3. While the pasta is cooking, melt the SmartBalance in a heavy pot over low heat.
4. Whisk in the flour and cook, continuing to whisk, for about 5 minutes. Whisk in a few tablespoons of the skim milk (to ensure that lumps don’t form), then whisk in the rest of the milk in a slow, steady stream. Bring to a boil, whisking the whole time. When the sauce starts to boil, turn the heat to simmer and continue whisking for 2 more minutes.
5. Stir in the evaporated milk, cheese, mustard, salt and pepper. Remove from the heat and pour over the macaroni. Add the cup of reserved cooking water. (It will be runny.) Finally, add the T of minced garlic (to taste) and the 1 T of mayonnaise.
Mix and transfer to the baking dish.
6. Make the topping; Crush the croutons while they’re still in the bag and empty the crumbs into a bowl. Add the melted butter and the cheese, and mix.
7. Sprinkle the topping over the dish and bake for about 30 minutes, until bubbling and brown on the top. Serve while hot.
For those of you who need help to curb your eating out but can’t stomach canned soup/pasta every single night or get home from work too late to cook, I highly recommend Dinner Done (or something like it in your area). http://www.dinnerdone.com/
You go and prepare a set number of ready to freeze entrees. I just stick it in the fridge to thaw before I leave for work and grab a bag of salad on the way home. It’s not cheap but it’s cheaper than eating out, they’re better meals than I would cook myself and it’s good bang for your buck (there’s no way you can make they entrees they offer for the price they charge if you were to buy everything on your own at the supermarket).
My sister and I sign up for 8 4-6 person-sized entrees and then split each entree into two containers for 2-3 people. I get dinner and the next day’s lunch out of each 2-3 person entree. It only take an hour or two to make the entrees and they have everything laid out for you (believe me, my sister considers anything other than cereal and milk to be “cooking” and she had no problem following their instructions). You can even buy side dishes directly from them if you want.
Soups and stews are great, cheap, fall-winter foods that you can make easily on Sunday night and then eat throughout the week (either as a packed lunch or for dinner when you’re too tired to think about cooking). I like a vegetarian version of chili mac—saute an onion, green pepper, and some garlic, add 2 cans of dark red kidney beans (cheap source of iron and minerals!), cooked macaroni and, if you want, frozen soy crumbles. You could also add a can of no-salt added corn. Add 1 tbsp of fajita or taco seasoning and serve with shredded cheddar or monterey jack. If you don’t use the soy crumbles (or substitute hamburger meat), we’re talking a dish that costs less than $5 to make and would probably cover 3-4 meals.