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 location.      December USDA Low Food Plan According to this plan, our family would have a budget of $184.30 per week.  Given our health concerns, we struggle to maintain this budget, but I will try to make this happen.      Here is what we did this week to make our week easier:   Pre-cut vegetables Make Pasta Salad Pre-package Salami and Cheese Breakfast Options:  Yogurt Cereal Muffins Lunch Options Salami and Cheese Pasta Salad Fruit Monday Pasta Homemade Gravy Meatballs Salad Garlic Bread Tuesday Gyro Greek Salad Wednesday Crack Chicken Salad Roasted Potatoes Thursday Thai Coconut Chicken Rice Broccoli Friday Salmon Spinach Cakes Rice Salad Saturday** Scout Activity Smoked Pork Mac and Cheese Salad Sunday Chili Corn Bread M- Pasta w/ Meatballs T- Crockpo

  March Sale Cycles There are cycles in the weather, economy, politics, and general fabrics of life, but the cycle that I have focused on recently is the sale cycles which seem to be predictable and constant.  Therefore, caution is best served here because overspending can easily occur in the name of saving money.  Since knowledge is power, here are a few tricks and skills to help you make an informed decision on your cycles.  This month we will focus on the March  Sales Cycles and give a few general tricks to make the most of your budget.  March tends to focus on March Madness, National Frozen Food Month, Spring Cleaning and Easter is coming up.  Things I look for in March:  Allergy Medication Corned Beef Frozen Food Post Cereal Eggs (Closer to Easter)  Ham (Closer to Easter)  March Madness Items (Chips, Pop, Cheese, Crackers, Wings, Etc.)  Easter Candy Irish Spring Soap Cleaning Supplies Power Washers Carpet Cleaners Humidifiers  Winter Clothing Clearance Luggage Garden Supplies Sain

  The Frugal Five: #78 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- The Joy of Dinner Kits  I thought Dinner Kits were a waste of money, but I have changed my mind.     With our very busy schedule and tendency to hit the easy button, pay the stupid tax, and order out.   This week we picked up a dinner kit from Costco for one-third of the cost of eating out.   I recognize that it costs more than cooking from scratch, but it is much less than eating out.      2- Curb your Grocery Shopping Bill  When we have more time off from work (holidays or summer break

So far this year we were able to pick up 29 free items .  High inflation is making finding free items more challenging to find.   However, I have set a goal to beat last year’s number (247). Currently, I am working towards finding extra items during months when I have more time and giving myself grace during the months when my time is limited.    My goal for next year is to find 264 FREE Items. This works out to 22 items per month.  This may be challenging because the drugstore deals have started to dry up and grocery store deals are not as frequent as they used to be.    I will rely on digital coupons, printables from the company when available, store coupons and reward programs, samples, and rebate apps such as IBOTTA.      As always, I can secure these items through Kroger incentives, Drug Store (Walgreens/CVS)  Rewards programs, sales, Smart Source, Meijer’s sales/store coupons, sample requests, and Rebates Programs (IBOTTA/SavingStar).    January  Here is my January 2024 list of

  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.      December USDA Low Food Plan According to this plan, our family would have a budget of $183.70 per week.  Given our health concerns, we struggle to maintain this budget, but I will try to make this happen.      Here is what we did this week to make our week easier:   Blueberry Muffins (Box mix) Hardboil Eggs French Onion Soup Meal Planning Breakfast Options:  Yogurt Cereal Blueberry Muffins Lunch Options French Onion Soup Salad Monday Baked Chicken Rice California Blend Salad Tuesday Tacos Salad Chips w/ Salsa Wednesday Thai Coconut Chicken Rice Salad Thursday Team Dinner Pot of Meatballs Friday Gyro Greek Salad Saturday Quesadilla  Salad Sunday Crab Legs Shrimp Boil Salad Garlic Bread M- Crack Chicken T- Gyros W- Chicken Stir Fry Th- Team Din