The Frugal Five: #76

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.

This week I am exploring how to keep costs down during busy weeks. Keeping dinner on the table instead of eating out is one of my strategies to get the job done. Here are some of my tips and trips.

1- Crock Pot Cooking

The crock pot is a great solution for getting dinner on the table each night. In the morning, I spend a few minutes putting all the ingredients into the crock pot, set the cook cycle and dinner is ready when I get home.

2- Sunday Prepping

On Sunday, I prepare as much as I can for the week. I do this by planning all of our meals and completing all of my baking, and pre-cutting of vegetables and fruit. In addition, I pre-pack several days of lunches and prepare breakfast options for the week.

3- Pre-Making Breakfast

We keep breakfast simple in our house, so I make one baked item and we have the options of cereal and yogurt. Some things that I make for breakfast include banana bread, muffins, scones, or egg mcmuffins.

4- Sandwich Night

Each week we have sandwich night. I typically pick the busiest night of the week. Sandwich night is an easy, quick, and low-stress meal where each family member makes their sandwiches. We pair this with pre-cut vegetables, dip, and salad.

5- Left Over Night

Leftovers are a gold mine in savings. We use them for lunches, dinner night or just snacking. By cooking once and eating twice we reduce the amount of money we spend. Sometimes, we remake the protein into another dish and sometimes, we just reheat the leftovers for lunch the next day.

What Free-bees have you been able to pick up this year? My entire year is attached below.

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

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...

Meal Planning: #287

Menu Plan #287 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. August USDA Low Food Plan According to this plan, our family would have a budget of $185.60 per week. 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. Here is what we did this week to make our week easier: Breakfast Options: Yogurt Muffins Egg Sandwiches Lunch Options: Grilled Chicken Salads Chicken Salad Monday Hamburgers Roasted Potatoes Corn Tuesday Street Tacos Salad Wednesday Enchilada Salad Chips w/ Salsa Thursday Leftovers Friday Chicken Parmesan Pasta Sal...

The Frugal Five: #88

The Frugal Five: #88 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. This week I am exploring how to keep costs down during busy weeks. Keeping dinner on the table instead of eating out is one of my strategies to get the job done. Here are some of my tips and trips. 1- Free-Bee Pick Up Over the last month, we have been blessed with several Free-Bees. First, a friend gave us a dozen eggs from his chickens. In addition, we picked up several photos with discount codes from Walgreens and CVS. Next, we used our local grocery store coupons for several free food items such as seltzer water, ice cream, etc. Then, we picked up toothpaste and eyeliners from ...

The Sweet Life On A Budget

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