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Not Wasting Food Today

During the holidays, our food waste was a little high. We shopped a lot, cooked a lot and packed the refrigerator with all sorts of ingredients and good things to eat. The environment was just right for food waste, since we hardly knew what we had. Having another person in our home didn’t help, either, since we all tending to save things for each other to the point where some items went bad (a crying shame in the case of the over-the-top chocolate bread). Since one of my New Year Resolutions is to find an extra $5,000 toward my mortgage … Continue reading →

Frugal Breakfast Plan

In spite of my sometimes best intentions not getting all the way to fruition, I really do try to make a home made breakfast for my family. Not only is it a nutritious practice, but it is also very frugal. Pound for pound, those easy already prepared breakfasts are some of the most expensive meals around. Cereal can cost $4 for a box that lasts one or two days at the most. And frozen breakfast meals are even worse. Lately, with our hectic schedule, we have been relying too much on those convenience breakfast foods, such as instant oatmeal, cereal, … Continue reading →

Peek into My Morning

I am always so curious for a glimpse into the lives of others. The domestic every day life of my fellow humans tends to fascinate me. I suppose that is why I read so many blogs, especially the frugal ones, of course. Sometimes I get great tips on things that I can do around my house or with my family. Other times I just have an appreciation for other ways of living. So, I thought I would share some of the things we will do today, from a frugal standpoint. This may give you a good idea of some of … Continue reading →

Save on Cookie Mixes

There is no doubt that store bought cookie mixes are very convenient. They taste a bit more like homemade that boxed or bagged cookies do. But these mixes are very expensive, even when you count in coupons and sales. But there is a fun solution to those store bought cookie mixes, and it doesn’t involve any baking from scratch. (Of course, if you want to bake from scratch, that isn’t a bad idea at all!) Here is the secret to low cost cookie mixes. Take a cake mix and turn it into a cookie mix! Cake mixes are generally much … Continue reading →

Three Ways for Frugal Summer Cooking

Enjoy some great meals this summer while being frugal. When it comes to frugal summer cooking, it is all about the heat. Well, minimizing the heat, that is. Generating heat while cooking and then having to cool your house of that added heat is probably the biggest expense in summer cooking. Normally, ingredients are the biggest expense in cooking, but with summer comes the availability of fresh produce at low prices that help you keep a frugal budget. So, let’s concentrate on reducing that cooking heat instead. Here are some great ways to do just that. The first way to … Continue reading →

Frugal Uses For Leftovers: The Sandwich Spread

Want to save those leftovers and stretch out your food budget at the same time? Try making your own sandwich spreads. it is easy and economical. I love the idea of stretching out food and finding new ways to use leftovers. After all, it seems like food is getting more and more expensive by the month. Despite using coupons and sales, it seems like my food bill keeps going up. In an earlier article, Freezer Soup is Free, I talked about gathering your leftovers in a freezer container to make a healthy and frugal soup. Here is another great way … Continue reading →

Save Money When Eating Out: Ordering Strategies

Need some more strategies for eating out and saving money? Here are additional ideas to help you enjoy your time away from the kitchen without breaking your budget. If you haven’t read yesterday’s article, Save Money on Eating Out, you might want to check that one out. Just click here. You don’t have to go into a restaurant and automatically order an appetizer, large entree and desert. Doing some smart ordering can save you a lot on your restaurant bill. Here are some ways to take advantage of all that menus have to offer and still pay less than with … Continue reading →

Freezer Soup Is Free

The old saying goes that there is no such thing as a free lunch. Well, with freezer soup that is as wrong as can be. If you know the basics of this frugal technique, you can have your free lunch (or dinner) and eat it too! Freezer soup is one of those things that is so simple to do. It uses up leftovers that might otherwise go bad or be thrown away. How many times have you been left with just a little bit of leftovers that aren’t quite enough to make another full meal. Do you force yourself to … Continue reading →

Chicken Enchilada Bake

“The ingredients sound strange but this is soooo good.” That quote above is from Kelly, one of my friends who is part of our dinner club (to learn more about starting a dinner club, click here). She added this recipe to our database some time ago, and it remains one of my favorites for jazzing up dinner. It is a casserole-type dish, which I love because of the convenience and the ease. I can prep much of it in the morning, while everyone else is asleep (when I get most of my kitchen work done), and it always turns out … Continue reading →

Frugal Living Week In Review for April 16th to April 22nd

Frugal Living has become such second nature to me, that sometimes I forget to share ideas that I use everyday. I am trying to make a more conscious effort, to pass these along to others, so they can save money too. This past week was filled with excellent articles by three bloggers, all whom I consider quite obviously well-versed, on the art of Frugal Living. There are always a never ending supply of terrific ideas, tips, resources and advice for living a more frugal lifestyle. If you haven’t checked it out late, be sure and visit the Frugal Blog! Monday … Continue reading →