My dad, one of 17 in his family, grew up on a farm.
And they would butcher pigs. Dad used to tell me that everything except the pig's squeal was used in the butchering processs. He wasn't the first to share that saying, but its meaning certainly holds true: Nothing goes to waste.
Thankfully, I've taken that "nothing goes to waste" philosophy to my cooking. And it saved me in both time and money this week.
The Holiday Inn Conference Center in West Manchester Township welcomed hundreds of job-seekers Monday for MediaOnePA's job fair.
One wave of job-seekers after another peppered recruiters with greetings, handshakes and questions.
The job fair ran for five hours, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. That's a pretty long day, meaning that each recruiter undoubtedly fielded scores of visits.
With all those people walking around, I asked one recruiter what a job-seeker might do to stand out.
His response: The job-seeker must possess "the drive to achieve and succeed."
Want to save money? Try running your car on pure gas rather than fuel mixed with ethanol.
Last week, I took a road trip to Roanoke, Va.
Before I left York County, I filled up on gasoline that contains no ethanol. Only about three stations in the area sell pure gas. The rest peddle fuel that contains 10 percent ethanol.
I made the trip and still had a half tank left from my original fill-up some 300 miles back.
A week later, before I hit the road back to York, I filled up on gas that contained ethanol.
I took the same route and made the same one stop. When I arrived home, I had burned through three-quarters of a tank of gas.
Ethanol may have environmental benefits, but you're not saving any money behind the wheel.
I've never dined at a Chilpotle, but from the buzz in the newsroom it's rumored to be good food.
There's one opening in Springettbury Township next week, and they are giving out free food.
Get in line early, folks.
Parking is a fickle phenomenon that mostly divides us.
Neighbors' relationships can sour over cars parked in front of each other's houses. Sometimes over-zealous enforcement officers pass out parking tickets by the fistful, inciting anger among commuters.
Two "Seinfeld" characters, George Costanza and Mike Moffit, famously missed a televised boxing match to debate whether one can parallel park by entering head-first, a question that defies a clear-cut answer.
But parking's heated history is flying out the window this week in West York.
Residents who live within a few blocks of the York Fairgrounds are teaming up to offer their lawns to fair visitors who need places to park.
Visitors pay $6 to park inside the fairgrounds, as advertised on the fair's Web site. Most neighbors charge $5 or less.
A mother and son whose properties adjoin on the 400 block of North Highland Avenue, Lois Arvin and Jeff Klinedinst, are teaming up this week to offer dozens of cars $5 lawn parking.
They sit alongside their driveway with other family members, enjoying the sunny weather together, waving cars in until the lawns fill up.
A husband and wife, Jason and Jennifer Jacobs, volunteered to help park cars for Zion United Methodist Church Sunday in an Orange Street lot that a church member owns.
The neighbors whose backyards border an alley off North Highland Avenue even fostered a parking alliance, waving cars into one yard at a time, all charging $5 so as not to undercut one another.
That way, everybody works together and everybody wins.
Keep that in mind the next time you're paying a parking ticket or fighting with your neighbor over a space.
To be clear, I never liked pork and sauerkraut when I was a kid. And mashed potatoes? Forget it.
But, my husband does and my son likes the pork. Those are reasons enough for making it. And after putting together a cheap and easy meal with pork and sauerkraut, I kind of like it now too. We all have to make some sacrifices. :-)
And making it in the crockpot? Holy simple.
Crockpots.
I love my crockpot. I was just talking to Sam in the office and I mentioned all my favorite crockpot recipes.
We are into saving money these days and crockpots -- well, rather, what goes into the crockpots -- have helped our family make really yummy meals, super easy, for practically nothing.
I was bad today.
I went out to lunch with co-workers. I spent $6.96, including tip. But I feel guilty. I'm having buyer's remorse.
I spent or should I say wasted almost $7. And on what?
I order a a grilled cheese sandwich with bacon.
Honestly, it was a waste of money, not time, because it really was a nice break from the office.
I will do better in the future. So, again no more going out for lunch.
Lunch at Fujihana is a thing of the past. One of the most expensive places I have eaten for lunch.
And no more El Rodeo, though my bill was under five dollars if I didn't order a soda.
I recently went through my last month's expenses and found I spent almost $600 dollars on lunches and trips to Target. I can't even remember what I bought at Target.
So, on my Facebook account I declared I would not be going out to lunch with co-workers and that I would dearly miss Target.
How am I doing with this declaration of non-spending? Pretty good. I have packed all my lunches this week. And just so I could escape the office I went over to my friend/co-worker's apartment. She lives only a couple of minutes away from work, so it's very convenient.
As for spending money on things I don't need. I haven't this week. Actually, I haven't spent one dime, not even on a soda from the vending machine.
The weekend is soon approaching, but I have some cookouts to go to, so that will occupy my time nicely.
My Smart Mama column that will be published Monday in the Daily Record is about money as well and how my family coped with a job loss. Times are hard. But as individuals you need to look harder at what you spend and don't spend on your money on. My mantra is if I don't need it to breathe, then I don't need to buy it. And so far this week it's been working.
I will keep you updated on what I spend my money on in the near future.
