Chicken Noodle Soup Revised

Struggling to make ends meet thru the last weeks before finals and Winter break? Just trying to stay warm? Limited time to cook...or no skills at all?  This recipe hits all of the cooking excuses, i.e. no money, no time, no skills to eat good food while being a college student or living on a fixed budget!

The 15 minutes you invest in making this ultimate comfort food will be the best thing you do this week to soothe your soul, warm your heart and calm your mind, and ensure you have another meal ahead. Better yet, you could share a bowl of this meal with someone else in need of company, a break, decent conversation, or a decent meal--seriously! 

My son couldn't believe how quickly I made the soup during his recent Thanksgiving break stating he didn't make soup, "because it took too long". Bah-Humbug! Excuses.

Chicken Noodle Soup Revised
(Adapted from Cooking Light Thanksgiving Edition 2016)

Equipment:
Large 5-quart saucepan 

Ingredients:
2 Tbls extra-virgin Olive oil
1 1/2 cups of yellow onion, chopped
1 1/3 cups of carrots, thinly sliced
1 cup celery, thinly sliced
4 cups chicken stock (homemade, store-bought, or bouillons)
1 1/2 cups of water
1 Tbls white MISO (optional, but this adds so much depth)
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp kosher salt
1 (9oz) bag of frozen cheese tortellini 
8 oz of skinless, rotisserie chicken, shredded
2-3 green onions, thinly sliced (optional)

Instructions:
1. Wash your hands.
2. Prep all of your ingredients, i.e. stock, chicken, veggies as recommended. 
3. Heat 2 Tbls of oil in large saucepan over Medium heat.
4. Add onions, celery and carrots, and sauce x 8 minutes.

5. Add Miso, stock, water, and bring to a boil. 
6. Simmer for 5 minutes.

7. Add cheese tortellini x 3 minutes.
8. Add chicken

9. Serve up a mouth-watering, hunger-curing meal in a bowl. 

10. Share some with a friend.

Tips:

• No Money:
• roast your own chicken
• make your own stock from carcass
• use regular pasta, i.e. rotini, farfalle, shells, penne, elbow
• omit the meat
• reduce cost to potentially less than $1 per serving
• have a lot of mouths to feed on a fixed budget, this will help
• No Waste:
• soups are great for using vegetables on the verge of spoiling, especially for making the stock
• use the chicken carcass, even if you bought the rotisserie to make an incredible stock by covering it with water, adding quartered onion, smashed garlic, and 2-3 roughly chopped old carrots / celery sticks, wilting parsley or other herbs, and some salt and pepper, 
• No Equipment:
• only need a large pot 
• a knife
• No Skills:
• most grocery stores have any kind of vegetable pre-sliced--if you have money, this will be a super-cinch of a meal
• can you stir stuff in a big pot and adjust the heat? then you can make this meal.
• can you chop a few vegetables? then you can make this meal
• can you eat with your hands and pull chicken off of the bone? then you can make this meal
• No Health:
• cut back on Sodium by using low-sodium broth and omitting salt if you have trouble with blood pressure, retaining water, or heart / kidney disease
• adds vegetables into your life
• filling meal if trying to lose weight
• great way to have meat as "a side" 

Nutrition Info:
Servings: 6 (1 1/2 cups) 
Calories 281 / Fat 10.3g / Protein 22g / Carb 26g / Sodium 637mg / Fiber 5g / Sugars 5g
Cost:  $1.54-$1.80 / serving

Double A Penny

Wanna make a quick $10,000,000? Just start with a penny and double the amount each day for 31 days!

I stumbled across this incredible calculation in an article by one of my favorite finance bloggers: BudgetsAreSexy.com.  

Plug it into a spreadsheet.  

See for yourself

>$10,000,000 MILLION

Wow! Incredible!

Personally, I would hit a wall mid-month with my ability to double the previous amount.  Where would your path to $10,000,000 end?? 
Do you even have a savings account? 
Or is your income fixed?  Maybe unpredictable? 
Do you want to save, but have nothing left at the end of the month? 

Where could I find extra cash without busting my budget? 
What's out there right now that could help people on a 'fixed budget', ie college students sock away a few extra bucks?  
Maybe you can't get to $10M in a month, but with a little (untouched) savings in your twenties, time could transform even a small amount into a tidy sum without much more effort on your part--just like that little penny, doubling it's way to $10,000,000!  

Well, there's a whole world out there! 
ThePennyHoarder.com has been a tremendous resource on tips and ideas to raise extra cash for savings without sacrificing your budget.  

1. Open a savings account

--deposit anything--$2, $3, $4, or $5

--set a reminder to make a deposit, any amount, monthly

--compare rates, deals and incentives for college students

--just get started!

2. Make a budget

--look at your spending over the next 30 days

--a rough outline of your major necessities (ie clothing, food, bills, supplies)

--deposit another $2, $3, $4, or $5

--need help? www.budgetsaresexy.com  

3. Raising Cash--In Small Measures

(Adapted (and supplemented) from ThePennyHoarder.com)

a. Coupons: The key to coupons is only buying what you actually use and need.

coupons.com  

inboxdollars.com  
couponinsanity.com 
ebates.com (some of these give you bonus, but only after a purchase)

'Deals' Smartphone App (lists local restaurant, retail offers)
'SnipSnap' Smartphone App

b. Surveys: These come in a variety of options.  Why not? If you commute, have downtime, easy way to add a few dollars to the bottom line.

inboxdollars.com 

mysurvey.com 

--downside to these surveys: endless data entry on your name, address, date of birth
--increased amounts of spam / junk email
--tedious

c. Scan: Scan your grocery receipts instead of clipping coupons.  

Checkout51.com (not store-specific)

Ibotta.com (store-specific)

d. Memberships: If you shop frequently at a grocery or drug store get the membership for discounts.  This can be especially effective if your coupons are featured at your store--double score!

--Walgreens

--CVS

--Grocery stores

--Sports Authority / Dick's 

e. Testing / Tasks / Trials: Sign up to test apps, ads, review various things for different sponsors, even head into McDonald's / Chipotle to document price listings!

--'Rewardable' Smartphone App

f. Gift Cards: If you are disciplined and have a good sense of your budget, purchase discounted gift cards for all your necessities, i.e. like groceries, clothing, supplies, toiletries. 

--Your $100 grocery budget may just cost $86. $14 to save right there.
--Your $50 clothing budget may cost $45. Shop at a discount retailer and save more.  

Raise.com  (great site) allows you to buy and sell gift cards.  

g. Cash Back Credit Cards: If you have any trouble with discipline, do not go here. You must be disciplined to consider this option.  If you don't know or trust your spending habits, skip this suggestion!

Disclaimer:
I only recommend this if you have the cash in your account, understand how credit cards work, and are 100% committed to immediately paying off the credit card after purchase.

--Get your cash-back reward. Log-in. Pay off. Do not delay!

--multiple cards exist with cash-back awards. Make sure it is 'NO-FEE'.

--buy your discounted gift cards with your cash back credit card--2x savings

--use those discounted gift cards with coupons--triple savings
--use at your discount retailers (like Marshalls / TJMaxx)--triple savings

h. Purge

--get rid of stuff. Say NO to hoarding!

--Ebay
--Craigslist
--Alibris.com

--bookscouter.com

4. How Far Can You Double Your Penny?

--try your luck

--what's to lose by trying?
--you'll just have more money?