The Sweet Life On A Budget

  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.       October USDA Low Food Plan According to this plan, our family would have a budget of $193.70 per week.  Given our health concerns, we struggle to maintain this budget, but I will try to make this happen.    Cost-Saving Tip of the Week: Cook a main meat for the week and stretch it over as many meals as you can.   This week I made a whole turkey (bought on sale) and then made several 2 more meals this week and used the rest for lunches.      Here is what we did this week to make our week easier:   Use Crockpot Meals when Meal Planning Planning for leftovers Pre-cook breakfasts Breakfast Options:  Yogurt Cereal Monday Pizza Salad Tuesday Leftovers  Wednesday Kielbasa Peppers and Onions Broccoli Thursday Turkey Roasted Vegetables Cranberry Sa

  The Frugal Five: #74 With inflation on the rise and salaries not increasing, our ability to make ends meet keeps going down.    Therefore, we must be more careful with our money.   The Frugal Five is a series where we celebrate the daily or weekly activities that help us live a frugal life.     1- Gas Shopping In my area, gas prices vary with an average range of $0.05 per gallon and sometimes as much as $0.30 per gallon.     By watching what the base price is and then adding my gas discounts, I was able to save $0.80 per gallon or $8.00 this week.  Although this doesn’t seem like a lot, it does add up for the year.  2- Planning for Leftovers This week a whole turkey was on the menu for Thanksgiving, so I planned three days of meals around this bird.    We are having a turkey pot pie and hot turkey sandwiches this week.   In addition, I planned to place some of the meat in the freezer for another time.     3- Choose a Simple Cooking Style Holiday cooking tends to elaborate and uses a

  Gratitude List 2023 Thankful List 2023 On  Thanksgiving Day, I post a list of 20 things I’m thankful for.  I picked 20 random things, so please don’t judge. These are not in order of importance.  That would make this job way too hard.  I just type ’em as they pop into my head. I’m thankful: My God who watches over me My family who always supportive and helpful. Having both family members employed Having a job that allows me to touch the future Belonging to a church that is creative and positively touches the Earth and community. Obtaining a community garden plot this year A warm home that keeps us safe. Our health  My blog readers which make the work worth the effort A plentiful garden harvest The knowledge to preserve our harvest for the next year.  A group of kind colleagues  The change of seasons Our rose bushes A fireplace Having a small grove of wooded land The birds that visit our home regularly The fun art and music culture of our new area My Orton Gillingham Support System Ra

  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.       October USDA Low Food Plan According to this plan, our family would have a budget of $193.70 per week.  Given our health concerns, we struggle to maintain this budget, but I will try to make this happen.    Cost-Saving Tip of the Week: I have earned several free items this week from IBOTTA.  Although I already have the items for this Thanksgiving, I will rotate them in my pantry and put them away for another holiday meal.  Here is what we did this week to make our week easier:   Use Crockpot Meals when Meal Planning Planning for leftovers Pre-cook breakfasts Breakfast Options:  Yogurt Cereal Monday Baked Shrimp Rice Mixed Vegetables Tuesday Tacos Salad Chips w/ Salsa Wednesday Leftovers Thursday Mississippi Roast Rice Cole Slaw Friday Lef

  The Frugal Five: #73 With inflation on the rise and salaries not increasing, our ability to make ends meet keeps going down.    Therefore, we must be more careful with our money.   The Frugal Five is a series where we celebrate the daily or weekly activities that help us live a frugal life.     1- “Potluck” lunch At work this week, we are having a potluck appetizer/dessert party for a colleague’s 60th birthday.  Everyone is expected to bring an appetizer or dessert for the party.    Since there will be a lot of food provided by everyone, I am not bringing my lunch that day and will eat from whatever people have brought.   In addition, on Friday, our social committee is providing us with a turkey lunch feast.     2- Picking up a Cheap Turkey This week at Kroger, if you spend $25.00, then you can purchase a Kroger turkey for just $0.49 per pound.  Although we do not prefer dark meat, we decided to take advantage of this deal and planned for what to do with the dark meat.     No worries