Frugal Five- #2

 The Frugal Five

With inflation on the rise and our salaries not being able to keep up, it seems like we have taken a pay cut and must be more careful with our money.   The Frugal Five is a series where we celebrate our daily or weekly activities that help us to live a frugal life.    

1- Use Hotel Points to Lower Cost of a Stay

We needed to travel and stay overnight for my son’s swimming meet.   Therefore, we did a price comparison of the hotels in driving distance from the meet and applied our hotel points to lower the final cost.    As a bonus, the hotel stay comes with a complimentary breakfast.    We will be taking advantage of this amenity to lower our overall trip cost. 

2- Shop the Sales

This week the Kroger box of baked shrimp was on sale at my local grocery store.   We picked up one box of this because it makes for a quick and easy dinner.   On tough days when it would be easy to eat out, we replace that thought with this easy meal.   The $4.00 price tag is much cheaper than the $30 takeout bill.

3- Travel with snacks and a packed lunch

We needed to travel this past weekend for a swim meet.    Eating out cost about $30-$50 per meal.   In order to minimize this expense, we take advantage of the complimentary breakfast in the morning and bring a piece of fruit from the bar for a snack later in the day.   In addition, we bring a water bottle, additional snacks, and simple lunch items.   Pairing this with a cheaper dinner, like a pizza helps to keep the meal budget in check.   

4- Meal Prep on the Weekend

Our weeks are very busy and it is easy to eat out if we are not careful and disciplined.   Therefore, by using our meal plan and pre-prepping our weekly meals and snacks, we can reduce or eliminate our eating out for the week.  This week I made hardboiled eggs, a breakfast bake, cut vegetables, prepared dip, and pre-chopped vegetables needed later in the week for meals.          

5- Watch Tubi movies and tv shows 

Years ago we picked up a Roku during a Black Friday Sale, canceled our cable, and never looked back.   One of the applications on the Roku is Tubi.  Tubi is a free application and has older movies and tv show series.   This week I found the first season of Firefly.   It was nice to see that series again.    

Do you have any frugal strategies to share?    

Please leave a comment below.