The Sweet Life On A Budget

  The Frugal Five: #41 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.     With the New Year upon us, it is time to set goals for how we will be spending our money.    This can look like shopping carefully, DIY projects, wasting less or just doing without.     Let’s see how we can save our pennies this year.    1- Hunted Down Cheap Gas Prices Gas prices in my area have gone up again this week, so I went on the hunt for cheap gas prices.     I watched my local honey holes that typically offer the best deals and waited for my gas tank to register low fuel.   Then I selected my local Kroger, which has the lowest price that week, and used my fuel points to lower the price by $0.80 per gallon.   Each time I shop for food, I maximize my fuel rewards by shopping on the 2X days, whi

  Lenten Meal Ideas Lent is a religious season which occurs 40 days before Easter and is a time of reflection on your life.   It is a time of fasting and abstinence as a representation of Christ’s 40 day time in the desert.      Everyone celebrates this season a little differently, but to me it is a time to take stock of your life and determine how you can live a little bit better in the next year.   The fasting and abstinence represents not only Christ’s fasting but reminds me of the struggles of others in our world and what it feels like to be hungry or want for things that I can not have.    Each year I take something different from my experience and humbles me a little bit more.     Each year I make traditional and non-traditional dishes from around the world in an effort to experience different cultures and how they embrace this season. Come along with me for my journey through the food that I make for my family.    Week 2 Friday     Panera Copycat Mac and Cheese This is one of ou

  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.      Cost Saving Tip of the Week: Check your pantry, refrigerator and freezer for what food needs to be used up before it expires.     Control your Kitchen Waste:  Americans throw away hundreds of dollars per year in kitchen waste.  With groceries prices climbing each week, it is imperative that we control this area of our lives.    Each week I try to eliminate waste by having a leftover night.   This is where we pull out all of our leftovers and eat buffet style for one night.   If we do not have enough food for dinner, then I will either make a large salad or a plate of scrambled eggs to add to the buffet.  Here is what we did this week to make our week easier:   Menu Planning  Pre-Cut Vegetables Banana Muffins  Rice Krispy Treats Pre-pack lu

  The Frugal Five: #40 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.     With the New Year upon us, it is time to set goals for how we will be spending our money.    This can look like shopping carefully, DIY projects, wasting less or just doing without.     Let’s see how we can save our pennies this year.    1-  Free Pizza Punch Card One of our local pizza parlors has a punch card where when you “purchase” 10 pizzas, you get one free.    We select Tuesdays to pick up our pizza because each pizza will receive 2 punch holes.   This results in us earning a free pizza every 5 pies purchased.   In addition, we pick up the large cheese pizza which is the smallest pizza that will feed our family and earn the punches.   Finally, when we order our “FREE” pizza, we order the Tradit

  Lenten Meal Ideas Lent is a religious season which occurs 40 days before Easter and is a time of reflection on your life.   It is a time of fasting and abstinence as a representation of Christ’s 40 day time in the desert.      Everyone celebrates this season a little differently, but to me it is a time to take stock of your life and determine how you can live a little bit better in the next year.   The fasting and abstinence represents not only Christ’s fasting but reminds me of the struggles of others in our world and what it feels like to be hungry or want for things that I can not have.    Each year I take something different from my experience and humbles me a little bit more.     Each year I make traditional and non-traditional dishes from around the world in an effort to experience different cultures and how they embrace this season. Come along with me for my journey through the food that I make for my family.    Week 1 Ash Wednesday:  Shrimp Tacos This week Popcorn Shrimp(12oz

  Breakfast On A Budget USDA Website has a range of $21.20- $71.30 per week ($3.03 - $10.19 per day) per person.   The two factors that determine the amount allocated are age and sex.  With such a small amount of money allocated each day for food and my attempt to eat healthy, I need to carefully plan each week.     Breakfast is a great place to really add value to your meal planning.    It can be a cheap or an expensive meal.    The choice is yours.    All prices below are from Kroger as of February 12, 2023.  Beagle and Cream Cheese ($0. 62 per serving) Bagels (6ct)- $2.19  Single Serving: $0.37 Cream Cheese (8oz)- $1.99 Single Serving (1 oz): $0.25 *PRO TIP-  Shop at Aldi’s if you have one in the area.  Their prices are consistently cheaper for these items.  If you don’t have an Aldi’s in your area, check out the day-old bread section of your bakery.        Egg Burrito ($0.84 per serving) Fajita Tortilla (10 ct)- $1.99 Single Serving: $0.20 Eggs (12 ct)- $3.99 Single

  The USDA food plans represent a healthy diet at four different cost levels. (thrifty, low-cost, moderate-cost and liberal-cost)  The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) utilizes the thrifty level of the USDA food plans.   Each food plan specifies quantities of food and beverage categories that can be purchased and prepared to make healthy meals and snacks at home.   This year, we decided to use the Official USDA Plans: Cost of Food Reports to guide our food budget this year at the thrifty level.    January 2023 Report Per Week  Male (14-18) = $71.30  Male (51-70) = $61.50  Female (51-70) =$51.80  Total = $184.60/Week or $738.40 Week 1:  Kroger: $201.92 Week 2:  Aldi: $98.00 ( I lost the receipt but I know it was less that $98.00) Kroger: $135.83 Week 3: Week 4:  February IBOTTA: $9.00 Total: $436.75 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 o