Monday Q&A | Cameras, lenses, lunches, and staying thin

Every Monday, I answer a few of the questions that my readers send me. If you have a question you’d like me to answer in a future Q&A post, just leave me a comment here or email me (thefrugalgirl [at] gmail [dot] com) and put Q&A in the subject line. I look forward to hearing from you!

One of my favorite parts of your posts are your photos — what type of camera (and lens, if applicable) do you use? I know it’s more than the camera — like the photographer, but I’m still curious. I love your photos!

-Connie

I’m so glad you like my photos…I love taking them and sharing them. 🙂 Your question is very common, and when I finally get an FAQ page up, this question will be at the top of the list! I apologize to those of you who’ve read this answer a million times before. I am going to get that FAQ page up, I am. One of these days.

I shoot with an entry-level Canon EOS Rebel camera body, and I mainly shoot with two lenses, a 50mm/1.4 lens and a 24-70 L series lens. The majority of the photos on this blog are shot with the 50mm, though, simply because it’s so light and convenient, and because it’s so simple to use in low light.

I have done a number of posts about improving your photography no matter what camera you have, so you might want to browse through those. I do love my camera equipment to pieces (I could never go back to a point and shoot!), but like you said, equipment isn’t everything. So, if you don’t want to invest a whole lot of money into bodies and lenses, improving your photography skills is a good way to go.

Question: What kinda camera do you use? I am saving for one and cannot decide between a Nikon or Canon. I would love your input.

-Monica

As I mentioned in the previous answer, I shoot with Canon equipment. I don’t have anything against Nikon at all, though…in fact, I’ve never shot with a Nikon before, so I don’t even know if I like their stuff or not. However, I’ve got a small pile of money invested in Canon lenses at this point, so I think I’m firmly in the land of Canon now.

I know that’s profoundly unhelpful…I’m sorry! I know that when I read photography magazines and articles, there doesn’t seem to be a clear answer about which is better. Some people adore Canon and some people would never consider shooting anything but a Nikon. From what I can gather, you’d probably be happy with either choice.

I do love, love, love my Canon DSLR, though, that much I can tell you.

I am a new reader to your web site, and just wanted to know if you had any frugal tips or ideas for cold lunch ideas that I could pack for my husband. He does not have access to a microwave during his day, and we are trying to save money by him not eating out every single day.

-Kaya

It does make it harder to pack a lunch when there’s no access to a microwave or toaster oven, that’s for sure! I hate it when my husband’s place of work doesn’t have a toaster oven.

I’m sure my other readers will have some ideas to add to mine, but here are a few to start you off.

• peanut butter and jelly sandwiches
• chicken or tuna salad sandwiches
• wraps (you can fill tortillas with lots of different things…chicken, lettuce, tomato, bacon, cheese, etc)
• pasta salad (we eat things like chicken pasta salad for dinner in the summer, and I send leftovers in my husband’s lunch)
• soup in an insulated thermos

I have a silly question. How in the world does your whole family stay so fit? If I did the baking you did, I think I’d weigh 300 pounds. Are you super active? Do you attribute it to how healthy you eat (other than the carbs?)? Small portions?

-Lynda

I don’t think that’s a silly question at all. 😉

I think the overall slim-ness of our family is attributable to several things.

• Genetics. We’re all fairly tall and have kind of light builds. My husband I just don’t have the genes to turn out a family of linebackers…we’re built more like runners. I would guess that our metabolisms run a little on the fast side of things, though I don’t have any medical evidence to support that.

• Portion Sizes. I don’t know that we deserve a lot of credit for this, but none of us has an enormous appetite. So, it’s not as though we plow through incredible amounts of food and still stay slim…we just eat smallish portion sizes.

• Diet. Yes, we eat home-baked goods and our diet isn’t perfectly clean, but we don’t consume a lot of processed foods. I cook mostly from scratch, we don’t eat restaurant or fast food often at all, we eat fruits and veggies, and we drink mostly water. This causes us to consume far fewer calories than we would if we drank sugary beverages, ate fast food and prepared foods, and didn’t eat fruits and vegetables.

• Activity. Since we don’t spend a lot of time watching TV or participating in other sedentary activities, we tend to be fairly active. Except for when I’m blogging, I don’t spend much of my day sitting down. And of course, my kids, being kids, are usually running around the house or running around outside.

In sum, I think the skinny-ness of our family is due to a combination of things outside of our control (the genetics) and lifestyle choices (the portion sizes, diet, and activity level).

Now, as far as the home-baked goods go, there are two things I’d like to point out.

• When you have homemade breads around all the time, it’s not that tempting to gorge yourself on them. If you only get homemade bread once in a blue moon, you want to eat piece after piece after piece. However, if you know there will be more bread tomorrow and the next day and the next day, it’s much easier to control yourself!

• Despite the way it seems, I don’t do a lot of sweet baking. I know I post recipes for muffins and coffeecakes and cinnamon bread, but those sorts of breads make up only a small percentage of what I bake, much to my children’s chagrin. The most oft-consumed baked good here at Chez Frugal Girl is the lowly whole wheat sandwich bread, not the cinnamon twists (those are an occasional treat).

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Thanks for all your questions, everyone. And thanks for being patient with the tardiness of my blog post this morning. I’ll try to be more prompt tomorrow. 😉