Skip to main content

The Frugal Five: #81

 The Frugal Five: #81


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- Gas Discount 

We are fortunate to have a Costco membership, so we receive a great discount regularly on gas.     However, before getting our Costco membership, we would use GasBuddy and watch for the lowest prices along our daily route to get the best price. Costco saved me $0.25 per gallon this week.   Before Costco, I was able to save between $0.03 and $0.05 per gallon.  


2- Grilling Chicken for Lunches


This week Chicken Breasts were on sale for $2.49/lb, so I picked up a large pack of them.    We grilled them over the weekend and packaged them for the freezer for future use.     Typically, we will pay $13.99 for 2 pounds of pre-grilled chicken.    Therefore, we are prepared for the rest of the month. 


3- Pick Up Weekly Free-Bees 

I was able to pick up an amazing number of free-bees this week.  I was able to pick up an 8x10 Photo, 4 Frebreeze Sprays, 2 Colgate Toothpaste, and 4 Hershey Candy Bars from Walgreens this week.  In addition, I was able to use my Store Coupons and My Perks Rewards from Meijers to pick up Knorr’s Rice, ¼ pound of Asparagus, 1 Banana, 1 Gallon of Milk, 1 Green Pepper, and 1 Gallon of Windshield Washer Fluid.     CVS gave me 1 free Covergirl Eyeshadow and Kroger provided me with ½ gallon of Oat Milk.   19 Free-bees in March already.   WOW!


4- Eating at Home


Through meal planning, crock pot meals, and dinner kits, we were able to eat at home every day this week.    This saves us between $45 and $60.00 per eating-out event.      Yippee!    On our way to save some money.    


5- Saving on Entertainment

We love movies, hiking, and playing games.     We are enjoying the warm weather and taking long hikes through nature.   It is getting us out of the house and helps to de-stress us.      In addition, we are using the free movies through our already purchased items, such as Amazon Prime, Tubi, and  Freevee.   


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

Popular posts from this blog

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 ...