Free Lose it! iPhone Application

After years of working on health and fitness websites, I knew the basic rules: eat lots of fruits and vegetables; more protein, less carbs; and nothing fried. I had already started cooking more, but I needed more help than that. I decided to use the extremely popular and free application, Lose It!, which I could download onto my iPhone as a guide. The Lose It! application simply enables you to track your calories eaten and expended through exercise. You enter your weight, how much you want to lose over a specific time period, and it gives you your daily calorie allowance.

Keeping track of your calories is very eye-opening! I always figured olive oil was healthy so I would generously use it for cooking and salads. One tablespoon of olive oil has 126 calories. I started to measure it out, and realized I really didn’t need more than one tablespoon. I began making trade-offs. I ordered egg-white breakfast burritos at my local café, got ridiculed for it, but later was able to have a chocolate chip cookie guilt-free. I still went out and went over my daily calorie allowance often, but going all out sometimes made the other days of the week that much easier. I exercised more, but then was able to eat more, too. And now, a couple of months later, it’s all unbelievably become habit and my new wardrobe is complete.

First, you learn to let go of the control over this part of your life, you learn to trust someone else (and pity them) to wash your smelly gym clothes. And then you do a basic cost-benefit analysis (Thank you, NYU Stern School of Business) that shows you that $.85 per pound, less than $10 – $15 per week (depending on your family size), is well worth it. (Here is where I will insert a disclaimer – kids are a game changer, where laundry can be almost a daily habit, and I can’t provide much guidance to those of you with kids!)

You must value these benefits: You don’t have to search around in pockets, purses and couches for quarters, and then spend these quarters for the machines, detergent and fabric softener. You also don’t have to hang out in a laundromat or laundry room for hours, worry if someone else is going to take your stuff out of the machine, or remember not to forget your stuff in the dryer causing your shirts and shorts to get wrinkly, and, most important, NO FOLDING!

The last tip I ever read in a Real Simple magazine recommended that you hire a cleaning person so that you can reduce stress, and I thought to myself, they just don’t get it – it’s stressful for some people just because they know they can’t afford to hire a cleaning person to reduce stress. I do get it, and the extra $5 – $10 it costs to get your laundry done will only provide you happiness and time to run your other errands, spend time with your family and friends, or write a blog post.

Here are my recommendations for having a successful laundry drop-off experience:

- Pick a laundromat that does drop-off/pick-up ONLY. You don’t want other people in the laundromat messing with machines and potentially taking your stuff.

- Round up the bill to include a tip. A tip is always appreciated and since the bill will be small, it’s okay if the tip is small, too. The tip will always pay-off in times of emergency when you need your stuff cleaned the same day, or you forgot your wallet or your receipt, or just because these men and women deserve it after cleaning your stinky stuff.

- Use a laundry bag that is recognizable. Makes life easy for you and the launderers at pick up if you can point out your bag. And if, like me, you sometimes forget your receipt, again, it makes life easier for everyone.

- Own more than one week’s worth of underwear. This holds true for do-it-yourselfers, and drop-offers, sometimes you just don’t feel like doing your laundry or taking it to the laundromat.

So release those laundry bag strings, and leave the laundry to someone else.

We decided to drive, keeping costs low to transport 7 people from NY and NJ to DC. Although gas and tolls add up for 2 cars, it’s still cheaper than flying or taking the train (I get sick on buses so that is not even an option, although I’ve heard that the Bolt buses are good.) You can get detailed driving directions from Google Maps.

Next, I had to determine where we would stay. Living in Manhattan, I’m a big proponent of the ‘location, location, location’ mantra, and wanted to be sure that we’d be able to enjoy the city within steps from our hotel. I went to my favorite website for finding great rates at great hotels, Travelzoo. Most of their listings are at chain hotels which allow you to make reservations in advance and cancel within 24 hours of arrival without any charge. I reviewed the 6 to 10 options presented for DC on a weekly basis for a month or so. Whenever I found a hotel that seemed like a good fit, I would make a reservation. So yes, by the end of the month, I had at least 5 reservations at hotels around the city. Since we were celebrating my mom, I decided to choose the hotel that was closest to Embassy Row, my mom’s favorite neighborhood in DC, and a bit luxurious. I picked The Fairfax at Embassy Row near Dupont Circle, for $99/night on weekends, and $149/night on weekdays. And then I quickly cancelled all the other reservations so I wouldn’t forget!

I like to use local newspapers and magazines to help me determine where I am going to eat and what I’m going to do because they tend to provide all price ranges, give a good listing of free events, and stay up to date for local city dwellers. The Washington Post has great reviews in their “Going Out Guide” and “Visitors Guide” listings online. And, best of all, the site has a tool that enables you to save specific places to a list that you can print out and bring along on your trip. Also as a resource, Time Out magazines and guides never disappoint.

My whole family loved The Fairfax (my nephews don’t know that one of the other hotels had a heated indoor swimming pool.) Our rooms were larger than my apartment and beautifully appointed. We were 2 blocks from Dupont Circle’s restaurants, small museums, and the Metro stop. There were apples and newspapers waiting for us every morning, and candies and chocolates each night. We frequented Kramerbooks for breakfast each day (one of the spots on my list!), a much more affordable option than the hotel restaurant. And of course, we ventured off the list for some meals based on recommendations from the hotel.

Just like in NYC, once we got to DC, public transportation was the easiest and most cost effective way to get around (and my nephews loved the extremely long escalators at the Dupont Circle Metro stop.) And most important, in DC all the best attractions are FREE – the Lincoln Monument, World War II Memorial, Washington Monument, all the Smithsonian Museums, and more!

Just so you know (because we didn’t), if you want to check out the White House, the top of Washington Monument, or Congress, you need to book or request a ticket up to 6 months in advance from their websites. It’s very easy to plan everything out if you go to The Washington Post’s Visitors Guide. However, we did happen upon one of the two weekends per year they allow visitors on the White House lawn to view the gardens, see the trees the Presidents planted, and be steps away from the Oval Office and Sasha and Malia’s swingset!

It proved to be a great, affordable family vacation, and everyone agreed that I should be responsible for planning all future trips. (Yikes!)

Each class at The Social Table has a specific theme, hosts eight people, and costs $65 per person for appetizers and a 3-course meal. Wine is BYOB, giving you the option of grabbing a bottle from home, picking up a bottle or two of Trader Joe’s Two-Buck Chuck, or stopping by your local wine store for one of Frugaltopia’s recommended Vino Cheapos. It may be a cooking class, but the wine is important, as you spend much of the class eating, drinking, and chatting with your classmates and Rebecca. Although not inexpensive, this cooking class is a great way to celebrate a birthday with friends, learn some new cooking tips and tricks (I can now expertly crack eggs and separate the yolks and whites), and meet some new people who appreciate food as much as you (or I) do.

The dinner theme for my class was “An Italian Dinner Party” with a menu of: Fried Spicy Eggplant, Roman Style Polenta, Pollo alla Diavolo, and Fresh Berry Crostada. The recipes are simple and require only 5 to 6 ingredients. Many of the ingredients are used in at least two recipes, and most ingredients like olive oil, bread crumbs, and red pepper flakes, you’ll likely have in your cupboard already.

All the dishes were delicious, but my favorite recipe was the Pollo alla Diavolo, the Devil’s Chicken. Besides the satisfaction of learning to cook a whole chicken (as to date I had only cooked pre-cut chicken breasts), the dish proves to be cost-effective (since there are few ingredients and a whole chicken is cheaper than pre-cut breasts and parts), easy to cook, and healthy.

Pollo alla Diavolo
Serves 4
from Rebecca Goldfarb of The Social Table

1 medium Chicken, 2 ½ to 3lbs.
1 cup Olive Oil
1 Lemon juiced
3 Garlic Cloves crushed
1 tsp Chili Flakes
Salt and Pepper

Wash the chicken well. Place chicken breast side down and remove backbone and wishbone at the bottom of the bird with kitchen scissors. (Those scissors in your knife set are for these types of tasks, not for cutting fresh flowers, which is what I usually do with them.) Turn the chicken over and, using the heal of your hand, press down on the breastbone to flatten (warning: you’ll probably hear a crack when you do this).

Mix the olive oil with the lemon, garlic and chili flakes. Season the chicken with salt and pepper, and then place it in a shallow dish and toss with olive oil mixture. Turn to coat evenly and let sit a minimum of 30 minutes.

Broil chicken, starting bone side down for 20 minutes. Turn over and lower the heat, and then cook for an additional 20 to 30 minutes until the meat registers an internal temperature of 160 degrees. Baste with the marinade from time to time and serve with lemon wedges.

This chicken goes well with any side dishes – polenta, potatoes, sautéed spinach, broccoli rabe, anything.

Buon appetito!

Money may not grow on trees, but does come on the roll.

The whole point was that the nice people at the bank were there to help you save money. I think that’s why ATM fees infuriate me. And what really gets my blood boiling are the “double” withdrawal fees – not only does the stranger bank (the one who is not your own) charge you a fee to take money out of their ATM, but then you get charged by your own bank too! It means that if you want to take out $100, you’ll end up spending between $2 and $4 per withdrawal. In other words, you’re paying 2 to 4% of your own money TO USE YOUR OWN MONEY! And if you’re keeping track of the math, that’s a whole lot more than the little interest they’re paying you to hold onto your money.

My solution for avoiding these fees when I am not near one of my bank’s ATMs is to go to the closest grocery store – D’Agostino’s, Food Emporium, Gristede’s, or any other place that provides cash back – and buy something. No fees are charged when you take advantage of the “cash back” option. (But don’t confuse cash advance with cash back; cash advances will cost you an extremely high fee of 15 to 19% on the amount advanced!) Buying something may not seem like the most frugal choice, but I‘ve made the rule that in such cases I buy necessities only – like toilet paper or toothpaste – so that the purchase is something I need to buy, or will need to buy in the near future. Toilet paper is my favorite since it only costs $1 to $1.50 – definitely less than the ATM charges. And I have to admit that sometimes I do categorize M&Ms as a necessity.

Another way to save at ATMs is to save the environment. According to Elizabeth Rogers, author of The Green Book: The Everyday Guide to Saving the Planet One Simple Step at a Time, receipts from 8 billion ATM transactions every year create one of the biggest sources of litter on the planet. Rogers says, “If everyone left their receipts in the machine, it would save a roll of paper more than 2 million feet long – enough to circle the equator 15 times.” While it’s true that sometimes we need the receipts to manage our accounts, taxes, etc., you may also take a moment to remember one of the golden rules your parents taught you: If you’re just going to throw it out anyway, it’s best not to take it at all.

Every little bit helps, so please be green when you’re getting your green!