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How to Make Budget-Friendly Lunches

My kids like to take their own lunches because they can spend the precious little time they have eating instead of waiting in line to get their food. I like making their lunches because it saves money, and I can control the levels of nutrition and the amount of food they get (for my skinny son, the school lunch still leaves him hungry). To make our school lunches the most budget friendly that they can be, incorporate some of these frugal strategies. Reuse your lunch bags Spending lots of money on baggies can defeat the savings of making your own … Continue reading →

Freezer Cooking without Effort

Today my freezer is somewhat stocked with meals that are ready to go. This really comes in handy on those nights when you just don’t feel like making dinner or the times when you want to save money and reduce your budget. Forget the elaborate all day plans that keep you in the kitchen morning until night cooking away. There is a reason that these methods encourage you to do it with a friend. It is a lot of work! While there may be a time and a place to do these massive freezer cooking sessions, I find that our … Continue reading →

Freezer Cooking for the Lunch Box

Yesterday, I shared some general ideas for saving money on school lunches. To take it to the next step, let’s talk about preparing lunches ahead of time and freezing them. Not only will this make preparing school lunches so convenient, but it will also make them even cheaper. You can use items that are on sale or inexpensive and take advantage of low prices. Plus, you can create these lunches from scratch, making the cost per lunch go way down. Here are some of my favorite freezer cooking ideas for the school (or work) lunch box. Homemade hot pockets These … Continue reading →

Frugal Freezer Breakfast Meals 2

It is a lot of fun to have a morning, or an afternoon or even a day to create a wealth of freezer breakfast meals that you can have on hand. Buying breakfast outside can get really expensive. Just think about it. Even if you only spend $5 a day, 5 days a week, that is $25 a week that you could spend on something else (or save of course). Prepare a bunch of easy items for breakfast ahead of time. A few hours will net you enough breakfast for a month. In my last blog post, I offered some … Continue reading →

Frugal Freezer Cooking: “Hot Pockets” 2

We are working on a freezer cooking idea–that of making “hot pockets.” You can make these pockets for pennies as opposed to buying the expensive ones in the grocery store. They are also much tastier than those other ones, I personally think. The hot pockets can be brought in for lunch or just heated for snacks. If you missed the first post that appeared earlier today, please click here. Frugal Freezer Cooking: “Hot Pockets” Now let’s continue. You can then form the pocket into a rectangle, if you want to more traditional shape. I do this by flatting the pocket … Continue reading →

How to Save on Groceries without Coupons

I fall in and out of love with coupons on a regular basis. Sometimes I will go weeks or months using them religiously, until I inevitably become disenchanted with the thought of being a slave to them and fall off the coupon wagon. During those times, it is great to still be able to save money on groceries without using coupons. Get a Freezer When you have a freezer you can save money on groceries at least two ways. You can take advantage of sales and buy extra food and then store it in your freezer until you are ready … Continue reading →

Inventive Meals on the Road

After traveling and lodging, food is the biggest expense while traveling. But you can get in some great meals for $10, $5 or less when you cook them yourself. How can you cook while traveling? There are a few fun and inventive ways to be frugal here. Bring the slow cooker While many hotels don’t allow cooking in the room unless you have a suite that includes a kitchen, you can still use your crockpot in your car! If you have a long trip, at least four hours, then you are all set for a great meal. Add a liner … Continue reading →

Five Ways to Save Money on Food

Doing without things is a great way to save money. For example, you can cut out the cable bill, eliminate the cell phone and go without the vacations. But food is one area that is well, impossible to cut out of your life, since you need it to survive. Fortunately, there are many ways to save on food. Try some of the following tips. 1. Eat at home. Ingredients are usually less than prepared meals. The next time you are out and are tempted to stop for dinner on the way home, stop at the grocery store instead. Some inexpensive … Continue reading →

Cheap Food for a Large Crowd: Snacks

Whether you are hosting an event or just trying to feed your large family, being able to prepare good, inexpensive food in large quantities is important if you want or need to keep your food budget from exploding. Here are some ideas for frugal food recipes. With our family or five, we need a large refrigerator that can hold at least three or four gallons of milk for the week. In addition to our kids, we often have a few extras over at dinner or lunch, especially on the weekends. So, I’m starting to get good at producing inexpensive meals … Continue reading →

Frugal Pantry: Pasta

When you reach into that pantry to plan out dinner, you might want to consider pasta. Pasta can be a great source of a filling meal. And with pasta, there are so many inexpensive options. Shopping carefully, you can get 16 ounces of pasta for less than $1. Add a few inexpensive ingredients, or even a small amount of expensive ingredients, and you still have a meal to feed the entire family for less than $5. I enjoy trying new pasta dishes, especially when I can throw some things together using food that we already have around the house. Last … Continue reading →