Bang For Your Buck
It is common knowledge around Twitter that I am addicted to the HGTV network. I watch many of the shows religiously and have seven of them set as series recordings on my DVR. Yes, seven, and you can close your mouths now.
One of the shows I have recently started enjoying is Bang For Your Buck. The premise of the show is to find three different homeowners in a single town who have recently made renovations to the same area of their homes for around the same cost. Then a designer and a local realtor visit each home and evaluate the choices the homeowners made and decide, based on the estimated return on investment, who got the biggest Bang For Your Buck.
What amazes me more than anything is often just how much people spend on renovations. I think one episode I watched last week highlighted three homeowners who had renovated their backyard spaces for $95,000. Now, I know that these days $95,000 is not a huge sum of money, but when I was a kid you could have bought two nice houses and three Buicks for that. And the people on the show only got a Jacuzzi and a barbecue so you can see what I mean.
Anyway, I was watching the show the other night and realized that I have a couple of things that I do that get me a pretty good Bang For Your Buck too. Everyone likes getting more for their money so I thought I would share them here and in doing so, hope that you will share some of yours with me.
First, I have a Bang For Your (Nutritional) Buck. We all want to find ways in which we can live a healthier lifestyle and one way is to pack more nutrition into the calories we consume. I used to eat a lot of leaf lettuce, which is not bad for you but isn't especially great for you either. I have switched to using organic baby spinach leaves wherever and whenever I would normally use lettuce. Spinach has about 50% more potassium and twice as much calcium as romaine lettuce and it contains iron, which the lettuce does not. I use spinach as the base for salads, on sandwiches (my favorite is veggie bacon, spinach and tomato, my own twist on the traditional BLT), in tacos and as a bed for cottage cheese. It costs a little more than some lettuces but nutritionally you get more Bang For Your Buck.
The other Bang For Your Buck is strictly for women and is something I learned on someone's blog last summer and I cannot remember which one. So if it is yours, comment and take the credit, please. Many of us who like to wear makeup are familiar with the product known as the foundation primer. This little product smoothes out your skin so that your makeup goes on more evenly, giving you a more flawless look. What we also know is how much these products can cost. I went to Sephora.com to do a quick browse through their products and while you can get some of the more basic primers for around $15, the one I would probably choose is this one by Smashbox, selling for $36/1oz or $38/1oz for color balancing. Not exactly inexpensive. But, ladies, do you want to know the product that you can substitute for those high priced designer brands and still get the exact same results? This one. Don't freak out. Yes, it can go on your face (given that you aren't allergic to it) even though it isn't marketed to do that. It is not sticky, greasy or smelly. It gives you a perfectly smooth and powdery soft face that your foundation will glide over like satin. The only difference between this product and the ones you can buy at Sephora is the price. This one is just $7.20/1.5oz. (Plus, if you have a FSA, it is an eligible purchase, so you can buy it with tax-free dollars.) And that? Is one HUGE Bang For Your Buck.
You are welcome.
So spill. Do you have recipe tricks or products that you use on yourself or around the house that maybe were not intended for that purpose but do the job and give you a bigger Bang For Your Buck? We all want to know.
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Reader Comments (5)
Good old-fashioned Vaseline. I use it to remove eye makeup at night (and I'm pretty sure the "oil" keeps the crow's feet away), I use it as a lip gloss (a little lip liner and some Vaseline make a lovely lip tint), and you can use it as a moisturizer in a pinch. It's a good product to travel with because you just need one little jar.
The only problem with vaseline is that it is a moisture barrier, so while it does help to moisturize temporarily, is does not allow your skin to absorb any other hydration. But it is a pretty nice all purpose sort of thing. :)
And Debra, I'm not shy about that kind of stuff, I'm totally giving that a try!! :)
I have a friend who uses Vaseline like you do, Mo, and I completely forgot about it. Good reminder.
Let me know what you think, Kellee, if you try it. I think you'll find it does the job!
I like to think back to the companies with longevity to get the bang for my buck(literally). For about a buck, or even less, Arm & Hammer baking soda. Mix 1tsp in a glass of water and drink up. Great ant-acid, but also a pick me up when you feel OFF. Balances the acid/alkaline when taken regularly.(Take at night if you have acid reflux) You can gargle with it, brush your teeth, soften your bath water, boost your laundry and obsorb odors.....you get the idea. And Jonhson & Johnson Baby Wash. I've been fighting allergies and hives, and this is the purest solution to bathing. Ph balanced and hypoallergenic and you smell good!
Wow, the things I would never think to try...