Search Results for: blog three ways your crockpot saves money

The Easy Way to Cook from Scratch

Cooking from scratch is a great way to reduce your overall food bill. Eating out can cost three or four times as much as cooking at home, on average. Faced with the reality of the savings, why don’t we all cook more and eat out less? Well, one of the main reasons is that the idea of cooking every meal at home when our lives are so busy can seem daunting. Guess what, though? Eating at home can actually be less time consuming than going out in many cases. Plus, if you follow the following advice, you will see that … Continue reading →

The Working Mom’s Arsenal

Every working away from the home mom should have a complete arsenal of supplies and resources to help her get through the day and be prepared for whatever life throw at her. If you are considering going back to work after having your baby or if you are a working mom right now, consider doing your best to have the following things in place. It may make balancing home and work just a bit easier. Respite day care If your baby become ill, which can happen quite frequently in the winter, especially the first three years of life, your day … Continue reading →

Getting Serious About Heat Conservation Part 2

There are so many needs these days, and wants are definitely on the back burner. One way that the economy has affected us, even in our normally frugal living home is that some of our priorities are shifting. One of these priorities is to do some serious steps toward heat conservation. In the previous post, I spoke about insulation and our dilemma about our attic. You can click here to read that earlier post. We are still doing our research to figure out the best solution for that one. Meanwhile, there is one other change we have made this past … Continue reading →

When You Are Tempted to Eat Out 2

Would you like to save between $1,400 and $2500 a year? Eliminate eating out just once a week. I feel as though as I am always tempted to eat out. I’m been sharing some ways to overcome that temptation in my previous post: When You Are Tempted to Eat Out. Now, here are some more ideas. Another method for putting a quick damper on eating out is to calculate how many hours you have to work to earn that meal. If you make $10 an hour, that means that a typical family meal might cost you anywhere from 3 to … Continue reading →

When You Are Tempted to Eat Out…

One of the things I struggle with in my journey with frugal living is just how easy it is to go out to eat. Going out to eat can be fun, get us out of the house and prevent me from having to cook. Most of the time, we get excited to go out to eat, but by the time we get home, we are disappointed in the experience and the cost, and vow to stay home the next time. With very little exception, preparing meals from scratch at home will always be more frugal when you compare similar meals. … Continue reading →

Making Your Freezer and Crock Pot Work Together

Two great appliances in your kitchen arsenal are your crock pot and your freezer. These two things can do a lot to save you money on your food budget. The crock pot can cost less to operate than a conventional oven. And having a full freezer reduces the chances that you will be buying expensive restaurant meals. But when you combine both the crock pot and the freezer, you’ll make the most of your savings. Here are some guidelines to using these appliances together to reduce your food budget and live frugally. Practice crock pot cooking and freezer cooking at … Continue reading →

Emergency Meal Stretching 2

We are talking about some techniques for stretching meals in an emergency, from hosting unexpected company to having to make due with the food resources that you have. If you missed part one, click here: Emergency Meal Stretching. Vegetables are a good choice when you don’t have time to really cook extra food. Canned or frozen, and even fresh, they are generally easy to prepare. You can have large helpings as a side dish or make the vegetable the main ingredient. And here is a trick to make it seem as though your meal is larger than it is. Offer … Continue reading →

Emergency Meal Stretching

If you find yourself having to feed your family for less, if you have unexpected dinner guests or if you just want to tighten the belt to afford a luxury, knowing how to stretch a meal in an emergency is a great skill for any frugal person to possess. Making food go farther without anyone feeling deprived or noticing a difference can be an art form. Here are some tips to get you started. If you are running short on a main ingredient, the most obvious thing to do is to stretch it out is to add other foods to … Continue reading →

Restaurant Food at Home

Since eating at home is less expensive than is eating out at a restaurant, it is amazing to me how all of we frugal people eat out and how frequently we do it. My family is no exception to this. In fact, I cringe every time we go to our favorite family restaurant. My kids usually offer a kids meal of Macaroni and cheese. It comes with a few slices of apple (about half of a small one), and there is no drink included, although it does include a small soft serve cone. These meals cost $4.99 each and contain … Continue reading →

How to Buy a Crockpot

Crockpots (slow cookers) are a favorite tool in a frugal home. Why? Crockpots allow you to put dinner together in the morning or even the night before and have it waiting for you when you are ready. This reduces the chance that you will either purchase expensive pre-frozen or pre-packaged meals for busy nights, or go out to eat. Some studies have shown that crockpots use less energy than does an oven or range, saving you money. Because of the cooking method, crockpots allow you to use less expensive cuts of meat, rendering them tender. There has been a surge … Continue reading →