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 lot of ingredients. Each time we choose to make a more complicated dish with many ingredients, the price of our meal goes up. I have chosen to make a simpler meal this year for Thanksgiving. However, we do enjoy one side dish which takes several ingredients, but since we have simplified the rest of them, our cost is not excessive.

4- Take Advantage of Free Items

I earned several side dishes from IBOTTA this holiday week, so I will pick them up. I have already shopped for Thanksgiving based on the sales, so the items I pick up will be rotated into my pantry for future meals. In addition, at my school, there was a box of individually packaged baked Cheetos available for staff to take, so I picked up several bags to use as rewards for my students.

5- Growing Herbs

I either have herb houseplants or dried herbs from the community garden this summer. This helps me to reduce the cost of cooking many meals. For example, I am roasting vegetables this year for Thanksgiving, so I will need some herbs to add to the oil mix. Luckily, I have several herbs either dried from the garden or fresh that will go nicely with the vegetables.

What Free-bees have you been able to pick up this year? My September free-bee haul knocked it out of the park! Hopefully, October will pick up soon, because it is looking a lot like my August haul.

Here is my list:

Do you want to see what we did last week?

Just click on the picture for the link.

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

Comments

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...

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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...

Menu Plan #307

Menu Plan #307 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 location. February 2025 USDA Thrifty Food Plan According to this plan, our family would have a budget of $189.30 per week. Since March has 4 weeks, our monthly budget is $757.20. We elevate our dining experiences by including fresh fruits, vegetables, and higher-quality meats. Since we have health concerns and are active individuals, we limit our processed food choices. Grocery Shopping Tip: Utilize your grocery store’s loyalty program. This month, my 2 primary grocery stores have provided me with store coupons for bread, Silk milk, jelly candy, frozen vegetables, and Bali coconut water. Here is what we did this week to make our week easier: ...

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