Over the coming weeks I’m going to share a series of frugal living tips with you. These are simple things you can start implementing right away to lead a more frugal lifestyle (and more importantly save some money). Since we were talking about Grandma’s frugal recipes last week, I thought we’d start out this frugal living tips series with some ideas on saving in the kitchen. Here we go…

Shop Your Pantry First

Before you head to the store, or start to make a list of everything you need to cook dinner, take a look at your pantry and fridge. Get creative and see if you can’t make a few meals out of what’s already there. I like to do this at least once a week and it’s amazing how many tasty meal ideas you can come up with if you look hard enough.

Stretch The Meat

You can get by using a lot less meat than you think you’ll need. I always cut the amount of meat a casserole type dish asks for in half. Same goes for spaghetti sauce, stews, soups and the likes. Just add some more veggies, potatoes, rice or beans to make up the difference. Even a little meat in a dish will give it a lot of flavor and adding the other ingredients makes it just as filling (and often healthier).

Skip The Meat

Of course you can also skip the meat altogether. Plan for at least 2 meatless dinners a week. Beans are a great alternative that’s frugal and a great source of protein. Here are a few of my favorite bean recipes. Give a few of them a try and see if you can incorporate some of them in your weekly meal plans.

Cook Seasonally

Pay attention to what fruits and vegetables are in season and do your best to stick mostly to using those. They are less expensive than produce that has to be shipped in from half-way across the world. You can also often find a great deal on these items at the farmers market, a coop or directly from local farms.

Have Some Freezer Meals Ready

I don’t know about you, but I get in trouble when I had a long day and just don’t feel like cooking. All good intentions go down the drain and the temptation to order some take out is big. Have some meals ready to be heated in the freezer for those occasions. I have an entire ebook on freezer cooking that walks you through the process step-by-step and provides you with some yummy recipes to make those types of meals.

Make Your Own Convenience Foods

Sure, pre-made mixed and foods are convenient, but you’re paying the price for it. And to be honest, it doesn’t take more than 5 extra minutes to make a cake from scratch than it does to use a cake mix in a box. The same holds true for many so-called convenience foods. Here are a whole bunch of homemade convenience food recipes you can try. Pick a few that you use the most and start making them yourself.

Put Those Leftovers To Work

Here’s another favorite of mine. Save all leftovers throughout the week. You can either offer all of them for dinner one night and let everyone pick and choose what they’d like (ala buffet dinner), or you can serve them for lunch throughout the week. Of course you can also take a few leftovers and turn them into a different meal. One of  my favorites is something my husband came up with. We ended up with one leftover hamburger one day and he made a delicious soup out of it, but crumbeling the meat and adding some broth, onion and a few cans of veggies.

There you have it – 7 frugal living tips for the kitchen. Pick one or two of them and start to implement them this week and watch those savings add up.

Warmly,

Susanne Myers- The Hillbilly Housewife

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