Frugal Five: #125

 

With inflation rising and salaries not increasing, our ability to make ends meet is decreasing. Therefore, we must be more careful with our money. The Frugal Five is a series that celebrates the daily or weekly activities that help us live a frugal life.    

I am exploring ways to reduce costs during busy weeks. One strategy is to watch the pennies because they add up. Here are some of my tips and tricks.   

1- Pantry Cooking Challenge

In anticipation of the holidays, we are eating down our refrigerator, freezer, and pantry items.    This will provide us with the ability to thoroughly clean and oranize our long(er) term storage and save a little money.   Some of the meals we are making include Chinese Stir-Fry, Pasta, Pizza, Pork Chops with sides, Chicken, and Beef dishes.   

2- Our Rich Backyard - Enjoying the first large Snowfall 

Although we had several small snow events, the first major event, followed by freezing temperatures, hit our area this week.  This allowed us to eat from our refrigerator, freezers, and pantry.   Keeping warm with a wood fire, soup on the stove, and various baked goods made for an enjoyable, cozy experience within our home.   

3-  Chinese Stir-Fry 

We still had some stir-fry ingredients from last week, including cabbage, carrots, onions, broccoli, and peppers.   By combining vegetables with shrimp, rice, and sauce, we created a delicious meal at no additional cost.   

    

4- Social Committee Lunch 

Each year, at work, I participate in our social committee.   This year, we are taking turns providing lunch for the staff who participate, and last Tuesday.  I was treated to soup and sandwiches from December’s committee.    It was lovely to eat a hearty lunch and share time with my friends.        

5- Takeout Fakeout- Pizza at a Discount

Pizza prices have increased over the years to cost $20.00 per large pizza.      However, if you don’t want to cook, Costco will sell a large pizza for under $11.00, but you only have the choice of cheese or pepperoni.   

In preparation for those busy weeks where I come home exhausted on a Friday night and don’t want to cook, I stock up on a few frozen pizzas when they go on sale for under $5.00.     However, if I have the energy to cook, I’ll make the pizza from scratch.    Since I always pick up cheese on sale and make the pizza sauce from summer tomatoes, the cost is minimal.   

What Free-bees have you been able to pick up this year?   The  2024 Free-Bee Summary has been posted.    If you missed it, then click on the link below.   The new Free-bee List will be coming this Wednesday. 

Here is my list:

Did you miss the last Frugal Five post?  No worries, click on the picture for the link.

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