Frugal Five: #89

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 The Frugal Five: #89


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’s for your Birthday

August is my birthday month, so I have been lucky to receive several free items from various stores.    I received coupons for free food at the following restaurants: Chick-fil-A, Jimmy Johns, Krispy Kreme, and Starbucks.     I also received a coupon for a free item from Bath and Body.   CVS gave me $3.00 in ECB, and Meijers gave me a 5% on 1 order this month.  


2- Every Little Bit Counts 

I discovered this YouTube challenge from Jessica at Three Rivers Homestead last month.   Her challenge is to preserve (dry, freeze, can) food each day of August.  Although I started late and have started to work full-time again, I am trying my best to put up as much food as possible in August.   So far I have 6 cans of pickled jalapeno peppers, 1 cans of pickled banana, 7 cans of salsa, 3 cans of tomato gravy (AKA sauce), 12 ice cubes of basil, and 1 cup of frozen zucchini.  However, my garden still produces vegetables, so I will continue putting up items through September.   


3- Home Repairs


One of our cars became dented in a parking lot.    If we took it to a garage to fix, the bill would be huge, but my husband and son worked one afternoon to fix the dent and then will touch it up with car paint.   I love that they are so good at problem-solving and working towards a solution. 


4- Packing Lunch Daily 

My colleagues tend to order out a lot, but I am staying strong with bringing my lunch daily.   To make my lunch special, I make one dessert each week and pack a small portion with my lunch.     It helps me to feel like my lunch is special.   


 

5- Price per Serving 

Fresh Fruit and Vegetables get more expensive each month.   I select my snacks and lunch sides by calculating the cost per serving.    The other week, Kroger had watermelon on sale for $3.99.  I can get between 32 and 36 cups of cut watermelon per melon.  This puts the cost per serving at $0.13.   


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.


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