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.