The Sweet Life On A Budget

  The Frugal Five With inflation on the rise and our salaries not being able to keep up, it seems like we have taken a pay cut and must be more careful with our money.   The Frugal Five is a series where we celebrate our daily or weekly activities that help us to live a frugal life.     1- Spring Decorations Changing up your decorations refreshes the soul and provides an opportunity for your creativity to develop.    I decorate by season of the year vs. holiday.   This allows me to systematically change my home by room without the pressure of getting it down all at once.    Since I rarely purchase decorations for my home, I try to use what I have in creative ways to create a stunning yet minimalistic appearance.   My process also allows me to sit with my creation and change it according to what I find beautiful at the time.      2- Grocery Budget: Check the discounted Grocery,  Bakery, Meat and Dai...

  So far this year we were able to pick up 23 free items.  With our current health crisis, the deals are very limited and hard to come.   We are grateful for everything we are able to pick up, especially because we are only going to the store when we need a list of items.       As always, I am able to secure these items through Kroger incentives, Giant Eagle Advantage Program, Drug Store (Walgreens/CVS)  Rewards programs, sales, Pinch Me, Smart Source, Meijer’s Buy 10 get the 11th free sale, and Rebates Programs (IBOTTA/SavingStar).    January (13 items)  February (5 items)  Here is my March 2022 list of Free Bees!   March (5 Items)  8X10 Print- Walgreens Promo Code (2) 5x6 Prints- Walgreens Promo Code Silk Greek Yogurt- Kroger Best Customer Code Starbucks Energy Drink- Kroger Best Customer Code My favorite deal this month was getting the prints from Walgreens.   I am planning to use these pr...

  Meal planning is essential to eating healthy, keeping the grocery bill down, and maintaining your sanity throughout a workweek.   In addition to meal planning, I try to prepare meals as much as possible over the weekend.   This helps to lower my stress during the week.    However, if we have a busy weekend, I try to plan simple or crockpot meals.    Meal Preparation Plan Bread Oatmeal Cookies Crudites Hard-boiled Eggs NOTE-  1- Click on the picture and get a link to a post sharing the recipe.  2- Although at the time of the blog postings all prices were correct, the current cost of preparation of these dishes may be higher due to inflation and/or location.      Breakfast Options:  Bagels Yogurt Parfaits Hard-Boiled Eggs Monday Quesadilla Salad Chips w/ Salsa Tuesday Shrimp Scampi Salad Bread   Wednesday Chili Corn Bread Salad Thursday Jambalaya LO Corn Bread Salad Green Beans Friday Cajun Shrimp Pasta...

  The Frugal Five With inflation on the rise and our salaries not being able to keep up, it seems like we have taken a pay cut and must be more careful with our money.   The Frugal Five is a series where we celebrate our daily or weekly activities that help us to live a frugal life.     1- Take Advantage of Free Items Each month various stores provide opportunities to pick up free items based on what you typically purchase in each store.   This month, Kroger gave me a coupon for a Silk Greek Yogurt and Starbucks Energy Drink; in addition to cheaper prices for other items.  In addition, Walgreens has offered several photos for free this month.   Although individually these things will not stock your pantry or provide gifts for everyone on your list, it will help to decrease the amount of money you have to spend while maintaining a good lifestyle.     2- Grocery Budget: Start your seeds for your garden.  Seeds are relat...

  Meal planning is essential to eating healthy, keeping the grocery bill down, and maintaining your sanity throughout a workweek.   In addition to meal planning, I try to prepare meals as much as possible over the weekend.   This helps to lower my stress during the week.    However, if we have a busy weekend, I try to plan simple or crockpot meals.    Meal Preparation Plan Yogurt Cut Crudites Hard-boiled Eggs NOTE-  1- Click on the picture and get a link to a post sharing the recipe.  2- Although at the time of the blog postings all prices were correct, the current cost of preparation of these dishes may be higher due to inflation and/or location.      Breakfast Options:  Bagels Yogurt Parfaits Hard Boiled Eggs Monday Chicken Salad Crackers Vegetable Sticks Fruit Tuesday Leftovers   Wednesday Chicken Fried Rice Thursday Pizza Salad Friday Baked Shrimp Tacos Cole Slaw Chips w/ Salsa Saturday Grilled Stea...

  The Frugal Five With inflation on the rise and our salaries not being able to keep up, it seems like we have taken a pay cut and must be more careful with our money.   The Frugal Five is a series where we celebrate our daily or weekly activities that help us to live a frugal life.     1- Utilized Gas Apps  Gas prices have been increasing daily and with the new restriction of purchasing Russian gas, I anticipate that prices will continue to rise to unprecedented levels.  Therefore, what things can we do to limit the impact on our lives?    When purchasing gas, I use various apps and reward programs to lower the ever-increasing gas prices.    GasBuddy tells me the gas prices in the area where I am located.   My experience has been good, but others have gone to specific stations based on the reported prices only to be disappointed.   In order to increase my success, I look at the last reported timestamp and only use pr...

  With a teenager in the house, our refrigerator and pantry seem to be constantly open.    My son is constantly looking for a snack or another meal.   As a competition swimmer, he needs a lot of calories per day to maintain his training.   With grocery prices rising at a regular rate with no end in sight, it has become necessary for us to create a snack list that includes healthy snacks on a budget.    Let’s see what I came up with:   Hard-Boiled Eggs ($0.14) Eggs have 3.6 grams of protein and are still a very economical snack.   Presently eggs cost $1.59 per dozen which has one egg coming to $0.14.    We take advantage of this humble but high-protein snack each week by making a dozen of hard-boiled eggs each week.   As a bonus, if we need a quick lunch, they can be added to a little cheese, crackers, and fruit for a homemade Starbucks protein box.  Bananas ($0.20) This week I picked up 12 bananas for $1.39 which come...