Roasted Red Peppers for Half Price

A couple of weeks ago, my daughter was asking if we could buy roasted red peppers. I checked our local Fred Meyer and they wanted $4.69 for a 16 oz. jar (about 29 cents per ounce), while Walmart wanted $2.29 for a 10 oz jar (about 23 cents per ounce). I told my daughter that we'd make roasted red peppers when we find a good deal on the peppers in the produce section. Then, last week, I found a $1 bag of 2 green peppers and 1 red pepper on the markdown rack at FM. We used the green peppers on homemade pizza and in burritos. As promised to my daughter, I saved the red pepper for roasting. The pepper was getting a little wrinkly, but it was still okay for roasting.

I used my oven for the roasting, baking at 400 F degrees for 20 minutes, turning, then baking another 20 minutes. (Fortunately, I had other items in the oven baking along with the pepper.)

Immediately after removing the baking sheet from the oven I put a glass bowl over the pepper to steam it for 15 minutes.

When done with the steaming, the pepper's skin slipped off easily.

I sliced the skinned pepper into strips, put in a canning jar, and covered with a 50/50 blend of olive oil and vegetable oil. The jar of roasted red peppers will keep for 5 days or so in the fridge.

As a bag of peppers was $1 on markdown, the red pepper cost 34 cents. I used about 1/3 of a cup of oil to cover the peppers, for a cost of about 50 cents. I would estimate the my half-pint jar was about 5/6 full or about 6  3/4 ounces. My cost per ounce, then, is about 12 cents, about 1/2 price from the jarred red peppers. If I had wanted to use the peppers immediately, then I would not have needed the oil to cover, and my cost per ounce would have been around 5 or 6 cents. By the way, the oil will not be wasted but will be used in salad dressings and to saute meat and vegetables.

January Spending to Save Big Later in the Year

Although I am trying to keep a grip on spending this month, there is one kind of spending that I am allowing because it will save me big bucks later. That's gift spending. In the past 10 days, I have been stalking websites and brick and mortar stores for gift-ables to use for birthdays and Christmas 2019. This is how I can afford a few sort of high-end gifts for my family. In very early January, many retailers have not only their holiday clearance sales but also have their annual or semi-annual sales. Deals can be found both in-person and online. In addition, by shopping online, I also targeted department stores that are not even in my area. I upped my savings by signing up for email lists to get an introductory discount to combine with sales at various online retailers. On a variety of gift items, ranging from bath and body products to cashmere accessories, I saved between 40 and 75% off of the regular retail price for everything that I bought. I now have gifts for spring and fall birthdays, Easter, and Christmas for most of the people on my gift list. I will fill out my gift closet throughout the coming year and add items that become favorites as I hear about them.

I am careful to buy gifts that are versatile, in that they could change recipients if needed, avoiding sized items. For example, a cashmere wrap could be a gift for many of the women in my family, and it would fit any of them (although, for the time being, I have it earmarked for one specific female). In bath and body products, holiday gift sets, such as sets of travel-sized, assorted scents of hand cream or shower gel, are often deeply discounted. These can be given, as is, during 2019's holiday season, or they can be taken out of the holiday gift box and presented in a sheer fabric bag for a birthday gift. These gift sets can also be broken up for smaller gifts, such as for Easter, Valentine's Day, or a small birthday gift for a friend. While it may sound like my purchases are primarily female gifts, I have also bought several men's gifts, such as sweaters and men's grooming products, as well as some couples' gifts, such as household and holiday items.

In addition to gifts, I stocked up on gift wrap, tags, and boxed Christmas cards for 50 cents a package at Dollar Tree's clearance sale, and next year's Christmas candy for the family at 50-75% off retail price from several grocery stores. As a bonus, one of the candy items (truffles wrapped in red foil) will be used for Valentines Day treats for my family.

I think I mentioned this before, but I keep a log of all of the gifts that I have bought and who is to receive them. By shopping in advance, and tracking for whom things are intended, my gift-giving has less last-minute spending, which in my experience has always been the most expensive kind of gift spending. Plus, birthdays and holidays are less hectic, and I feel more organized going into any gift-giving season.

I know, by January, most of us just want to put Christmas behind us. For me, as our family continues to celebrate Christmas through Epiphany, the gift-shopping is just one extension of the holiday season, with the added perk of the charge that I get when I know that I am saving our family money. So, for me, this works.