Saturday, October 23, 2010

A Beverage that's good for you AND Your Budget - Tea - Frugal Food

A delicious cup of tea makes you feel like all is right with the world, AND it's easy on your budget. It can even be good for your health: studies have shown that both black and green tea (which are, after all the same tea plant, just picked at different stages of maturity) are very good sources of antioxidants.

Make a delicious cup of regular orange pekoe tea and serve with milk, sugar and/or honey. Or, chill that same tea for a yummy - and oh yes, cheap! - glass of refreshing iced tea. Add a wedge of lemon and you have a delicious drink on a warm day.

Or, herbal teas are a great alternative to other types of less healthy (and costlier) drinks, such as soda. Try combining a few of your favorite herbal teas together, or trying them iced as well. Some of the fruit 'teas' are so flavorful it's almost like drinking fruit punch!

And the best part of all for us frugalites is knowing that tea is a very affordable treat - a box of tea can cost $2.00 or more, but usually provides 16-24 tea bags at a time. Watch for sales and then stock up on tea - so that you can have a comforting hot or cold drink whenever your thirst strikes.

Monday, October 18, 2010

A Latte A Day Wrecks the Budget, Okay?

Just a crazy little calculation to ponder on:

A tall latte at Starbucks everyday doesn't seem like such an extravagant indulgence, right? Wrong! Around here, each tall latte costs $3.31. Over the course of one year (not including any lovely pastries to go on the side) that would set you back an astonishing $1208.15!! That's just about enough to choke any true blue coffee afficionado.