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: #245

  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 preparation of these dishes may be higher due to inflation and/or location.      March USDA Thrifty Food Plan ccording to this plan our family would have a budget of $186.20 per week.  Given our health concerns, we struggle to maintain this budget, but I am going to try to make this happen.    Cost Saving Tip of the Week: Check your sale flyers for loss leaders.   Each week grocery stores advertise specific products at a great price to get you in the store.   Recently, I have noticed a very specific time frame for getting these deals.   Good luck and happy hunting.   Here is what we did this week to make our week easier:   Refrigerator Clean Out Pre-cut all vegetables for the week Pulled older items to the front for easier consumption C...
Post a Comment
Read more

Menu Planning: #250

  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 preparation of these dishes may be higher due to inflation and/or location.      March USDA Thrifty Food Plan According to this plan our family would have a budget of $186.20 per week.  Given our health concerns, we struggle to maintain this budget, but I am going to try to make this happen.    Cost Saving Tip of the Week: When I purchase fruit for the week, it helps to calculate the cost per serving vs. the cost in general.   For example, this week a whole watermelon was on sale for $3.99 each.    When it is cut up, the watermelon will yield at least 20 servings which will place the cost per serving at $0.20.    Here is what we did this week to make our week easier: Breakfast Options:  Hard Boiled Eggs Yogurt Homemade Breakfast ba...
Post a Comment
Read more

2025 Updated Breakfast Under $1.00

On the USDA Website, their thrifty grocery budgets range from  $25.70 to $72.80 per week ($3.67 - $10.40 per day) per person.   The two factors that determine the amount allocated are age and sex.  With such a small amount of money allocated daily for food and my attempt to eat healthily, I need to plan each week carefully.     With the Bird Flu hitting America hard recently, the egg is no longer a humble star but is turning into a luxury.     A dozen eggs cost $5.49 or $0.46 each.  At this price, I am looking at other options for breakfast.   Breakfast is a great place to add value to your meal planning.    It can be the cheapest or most expensive meal.  The choice is up to you.    NOTE: Prices are for the Northeast area for March 1,  2025 Let’s look at breakfasts that come in at or under $1.00.     Beagle and Cream Cheese ($0.69 per serving) Kroger Prices Bagels (6ct)- $2...
Post a Comment
Read more