Skip to main content

Frugal 5: #26

 The Frugal Five: #26


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 live a frugal life.    


** Sorry for the lack of pictures. My week has been really busy and I just didn't get around to it.


1- Fall Garden Harvest   


With the weather turning cold, we harvested the tomatoes that were left and made dice tomatoes out of them.   This will come in handy for making our taco soup and chili in the upcoming weeks.   In addition, we are able to add a few jalapeno peppers to the dishes.  Our dried mint was placed in containers for making tea this winter and fresh clippings were added to the drying rack.     Finally, our seeds are dried and ready for storage for next season.      It was a lot of work but worth it. 


2- Free Item Coupons



This week several companies sent me free product coupons, so I am taking advantage of these items.   Free Baked Beans, Tissues, Granola, and Protein Pancake Mix.   Considering that the IBOTTA rules have been updated; thus making it more challenging to pick up items for free.   


3- Homemade vs. Prepackaged 


My son is eating a lot of pre-packaged items because they are easy.  This week I looked up a Thai Noodle recipe to test out.   It makes 6 portions and comes in at much less than the $5.00 per meal for the pre-packaged items.  I will continue to look for convent food that’s the price point is less than $1.00, but they are harder to find.   


4- Discounted Protein Bars 


For training and swim meet snacks, he eats protein bars.   Protein bars are normally $1.25+ per bar, so when I found a bunch of his favorite Protein Bars for $0.50 each, I picked up as many as I could find.    We have portioned them out over the next month or so to ensure that he doesn’t just eat them all in a week.  I estimate our savings at $0.75 per bar, so this is great.  


5- Beverages from Home 

Each day I make coffee and take a travel mug with me to work.   In addition, I make homemade tea to pack for my lunch.    Since Starbucks’ coffee prices have increased, my daily savings for my daily coffee has increased to about $5.75 per day.    In addition, sodas at work run about $2.00 per drink, so by bringing my own tea, I am saving about $1.50 per day.  


Please leave a comment below with your ways of saving money this week. 
Labels:

Comments

  1. AnonymousOctober 15, 2022 at 5:25 PM

    We treated ourselves out for breakfast...took our own bacon and coffee in a thermos.. Lol. They charge extra for bacon so this time we took our own bacon and coffee !

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Menu Planning #132

Our meals need to be nutritious, clean, flexible, quick and cost effective. Between our work schedules and after school activities, we need to carefully plan our meals so that we do not end up ordering out.   The news is very scary at this time because of all the news of meat plants shutting down, grocery stories limiting the amount of meat a family can purchase and all of the talk about a depression on the horizon.    We have decided to keep our grocery budget the same, but to economize any way we can.     This week we tried to pick up some shrimp that was on sale, but the store was out of shrimp and not expecting to get any more in.    We were grateful to find wild caught salmon for the same price, so we picked that up instead for our Mother’s Day Dinner.    What did we spend?  Week 1: $96.44 Kroger: $96.44 Rebates: $3.55 IBOTTA: $1.35 Kroger Cash: $0.45 Checkout 51: $1.75 ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Menu Plan #322

  NOTE-  1- Click on the picture and get a link to a post sharing the recipe.  2- Although all prices were correct at the time of the blog postings, the current cost of these dishes may be higher due to inflation and/or location.      Published September 2025:  USDA Thrifty Food Plan According to this plan, our family has a weekly budget of $190.50. Since  October has 5 weeks, our monthly budget is $952.50.   We elevate our dining experiences by including fresh fruits, vegetables, and higher-quality meats.  Since our family has specific dietary needs, we limit our consumption of highly processed food.   Grocery Shopping Tip:     Rethink lunchmeat.     The deli will provide you with thin-sliced meat or presliced deli meat, but you will pay a premium per pound.     ($6.49 to $15.00 per pound) However, if you buy a ½ boneless ham (unsliced or presliced), the price point will drop to between ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Frugal Five: #133

  With inflation rising and salaries staying the same, our ability to make ends meet is becoming increasingly difficult. Therefore, we must be more careful with our money. The Frugal Five is a series that celebrates the daily or weekly activities that help us live a frugal life.     This year, my focus is on Simple Abundance , so finding ways to live well while staying on budget will be challenging.    Come along and enjoy my journey of elevating joy, enjoying what you have, and finding luxury in my local area.    1- Giving Back to the Community  Supporting your community can take countless shapes. Some people choose to write a check, and that generosity absolutely matters. But many outreach efforts require more than funding—they need time, hands, and hearts willing to show up. I’m grateful that I’m able to participate in several programs that make a real difference for the people around me. One of the most meaningful ways I give b...
Post a Comment
Read more