Frugal alternatives to more expensive ingredients

If you enjoy cooking as much as I do, then there are always those recipes that you’re dying to try.  The downside is that you might not have the ingredients on hand, or the recipe might include expensive ingredients.  If you only need a tablespoon of red wine vinegar, for example, it doesn’t make sense to buy an entire bottle if you don’t think you’ll use it in everyday cooking anyway.

This is where substitution comes in.  Sometimes, expensive ingredients can be replaced with cheaper, easy-to-find alternatives.  Here are some examples:

Sour cream.  This costs around P75 if you buy it from a store. If you just get the regular cream (P35) and gradually add vinegar or lemon juice as you stir it, you’ll get the same effect.  Just use your taste buds to judge the quantity, but 2 to 3 tablespoons of vinegar to one cup of cream should do the trick.  Sometimes I add a bit of mayonnaise if I’ll be using the sour cream in a dip.

If you don’t want to do all this mixing, you can also use yogurt in the same amount as the sour cream.

Cream cheese.  It’s P115 a block, so if you’re only going to use small quantities, you can use these suggestions from AllRecipes: the same amount of yogurt, strained with a cheesecloth overnight.  I haven’t tried this yet, though.

According to the article I mentioned earlier, you can puree some cottage cheese (same as the needed amount of cream cheese), but the price difference would be smaller, because the last time I checked, cottage cheese was P95/cup.  I generally just buy cream cheese rather than do substitutions, since it goes well with almost anything.  If for some reason you can’t find it (they don’t have it in the grocery nearest my house), then by all means try these substitutes.

Parmesan cheese.  If you have some leftover queso de bola from the holidays, you can grate that and use it instead of buying parmesan.

White/red wine vinegar.  The substitution depends on what you need the wine vinegar for.  If it’s the acidity that’s needed, then you can simply use any vinegar you have - just add it gradually and judge it with your tastebuds until it has the level of acidity or sourness you need.  Since red wine vinegar is generally milder, you can halve the quantity required in the recipe.

White/red wine.  For white wine, you can substitute chicken or fish broth (depending on what you’re cooking). According to an article I found at About.com, you can also use ginger ale, or canned mushroom liquid.  If you’ll use it as a marinade, you can mix 1/4 cup vinegar with 1 tbsp sugar and 1/4 cup water.

For red wine, you can substitute grape juice.  If you’re using tetrapack or powdered juices, they might be too sweet, so diluting them with broth or water might help.

Here are some additional ingredient substitute lists I found online:

• from E-cookbooks.net
• That’s My Home substitution list
• FoodSubs.com (this one is the most comprehensive, as it even lists substitutes for kitchen tools)

Do you use substitutes for expensive ingredients?  Are there any tips you’d like to share with us?

Image by Steve Woods from Sxc.hu

Online money-making opportunities: Jan 19-24

Happy Thursday, everyone :)  Below are some online job opportunities this week.

Note: I try to list legitimate job opportunities as much as possible, but some illegitimate ones might fall through the cracks.  Please use your best judgment when communicating with prospective clients, and make sure you get a signed contract before doing any work.

Internet entrepreneur Yaro Starak is also looking for competent individuals to hire.  He’s willing to pay $15-$35 per hour, depending on the work.  Basically, he’s looking for copywriters, PHP developers, graphic designers, project managers, and a virtual assistant.  For more information, click here.

Now, let’s move forward to the other online job opportunities available:

Blogging and Online Writing:

• Design bloggers wanted (Splashpress Media)
• Forex Content Writers
• Financial Planning Blogger ($50/article)
• Online education blogger ($20/article)
• Freelance writer for costume site
• Feature travel writer/blogger
• Passionate soccer blogger
• Gadget/fashion/wine blogger ($250 to $300 / month)

Web Design & Development:

• WordPress Developer ($125)
• Programming team ($3,000 or more)
• Avatar chatroom script ($200)
• Flash designer
• Web Designer Needed ($150)

Miscellaneous:

• Data entry freelancer ($75 to $300 daily)

Protecting Yourself Against Layoffs

Recent items in the news must sound depressing for Filipino employees.  An outsourcing firm laid off 500 workers, many OFWs lost their jobs, and even the Intramuros Administration laid off some of its workers.

Since I work as a freelancer, there’s no danger of layoffs in the strictest sense.  But I need to prepare myself in case my biggest clients close up shop or decide to cut off my services from their annual budget. In times like these, we all need to protect ourselves from sudden unemployment.  Here are some ways we can do this:

Build up your emergency fund.  I’ve written about emergency funds so many times, which just goes to show how important they are - especially in times of financial crisis.  For the uninitiated, here’s a definition of an emergency fund:

“It’s basically a collection of money that you can access whenever there’s an emergency. And only an emergency. Emergencies may include the following: the sudden loss of a job, unforseen medical bills, a natural calamity, sudden home or vehicle repairs, etc.”

Right now, I have 6 months worth of living expenses tucked away in my emergency fund.  If I lose a big client or all my clients, I can go by without work for 6 months.  Of course, I won’t wait until my emergency fund runs out before I look for new jobs, but it gives me a sense of security knowing that if I have no income, I can still support myself and my family.

Have multiple streams of income.  Whether you’re a freelancer or a corporate employee, it helps to have multiple ways to earn money.  Freelancers should have more than one client at a time.  Corporate workers should have businesses, investments, or part-time gigs that will be able to support them in some way when they get laid off.

For me, I have more than one client, but I also have other streams of income such as ad and affiliate revenue from my other blogs.

Why not hit two birds with one stone by having streams of income that you can add to your resume? Apart from getting extra income for yourself, you’ll also increase your worth as an employee or freelancer by having income streams that will reflect well in your resume.  Did you write and sell an ebook about your industry?  Did you work as a virtual assistant for an internet mogul?  Did you start your own business?  Having these experiences usually gives you the right to charge a bit more than others who only depended on their corporate jobs to learn new skills.

Cut down expenses.  This is always a must, even if there’s no financial crisis.  Be aware of how much you spend each day and see if there are areas you can cut back on.

Have a plan.  If you do get laid off, what are you planning to do with your time? Sure, you can take a couple of days to rest, but after that, you need to take some action even if you have an emergency fund that covers your expenses.  Why?  Because it’s never a good thing for the mind to be idle.

This would be the perfect time for you to polish your resume, get an online presence (such as your own professional website or blog, or even just a LinkedIn account), and find other ways to make money.

Use your brain, not your heart.  Most money decisions are emotional decisions. This is why many people fall prey to scams, get-rick-quick schemes that don’t work, and failed investments.  Don’t just jump at every possible income source you can think of without being informed first.  If you just join every PTC (paid-to-click) site, invest in stocks you know nothing about, and participate in multi-level marketing schemes, you’ll just be wasting both your time and your money.  Making logical, informed decisions is the only way for anyone to survive job loss.

Usually, layoffs are sudden and outside your control.  But this doesn’t mean that you should be financially powerless if you lose your job.  By doing the 5 things listed above, you’ll be able to cushion yourself from some of the financial effects of being laid-off.

How secure do you feel with your job?  Are you doing anything to protect yourself from job loss?

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