Smart, Frugal And Tasty: Preserving Your Food

July 21, 2011 By 1 Comment

There are so many ways to preserve food for future use that are easy and cheap. Whether you shop at the grocery store for great loss leader deals, grab a bushel of something at the local farmer’s market or pick your own berries from the backyard, you can stretch that savings and make it last throughout the year. Americans have gotten out of the habit of preserving their produce by letting mega food conglomerates do the work for them. In fact, preserving has become almost an unknown event in many households.

1.    Canning: The thought of pretty jars lining a pantry shelf, filled with homemade jams and jellies is heart-warming to many. Whether you use them as inexpensive gifts orPreserving Food a staple at your breakfast table, homemade is cheap, easy and fun. Recipes are everywhere on the internet. Pick an easy to make jam first and invite a friend over for moral support. You can move your way up to more time-consuming jellies, vegetables, salsa and even homemade pasta sauce. A few hours spent in the kitchen can feed your family frugally all winter.

2.    Freezing: Obviously, stocking up on extra meat and storing it in the freezer is something most of us do. Think outside the (ice) box. Jalapeno and Banana peppers are cheap at the Farmer’s Market and can be easily stored in a zipped top bag for use all year. If you are nervous about canning, you can even try a recipe for Strawberry Freezer Jam that requires no effort. Don’t forget you can always make a double batch of homemade soup and put the other half in your handy freezer for a quick, low cost meal on a busy day when you don’t have time to cook.

3.    Pickling: Save the taste of summer abundance by pickling a variety of vegetables. Cucumbers, cauliflower, green beans and even watermelon rind all make great tasting pickles. You can even create your own specialty relishes, like sweet pickle relish or a spicy corn relish. In fact, homemade sauerkraut is so much better than store bought. If the thought of a small science experiment makes you hesitant, test the waters with pickles made in your refrigerator. Just mix and chill.

4.    Dehydrating: You are probably picturing the preservative-laden, plastic wrapped jerky collecting dust at your local gas station right about now but homemade jerky is amazing. The flavor is remarkable, you control the seasonings and you have a frugal way to preserve meat and fish. Better yet, a dehydrator can be used for so many other foods. Herbs can be dried quickly for future use and fruit can be cheaply turned into fruit chips or fruit leathers for a nutritional snack.

If you haven’t yet tried your hand at any of the above methods for preserving food, think about it. It is a healthy and frugal alternative for the pre-package stuff at the grocery store and it can be a lot of fun.

If you use any of the methods above, please share your favorite method and recipe!

P.S. I’ll be posting some of my favorite resources & recipes soon so keep an eye out

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20 Ways To Do Dinner Cheap

July 19, 2011 By Leave a Comment

The cost of food seems to go up in price every trip to the grocery store. Shopping the ads, using coupons and stocking up on the loss leaders is a great way to save money Ramen Noodlesbut what do you do with all that food once you get home.   There are many ways to make those ingredients go even further.

  1.  Tuna Melt: The classic go-to inexpensive dinner of a tuna sandwich with American cheese, toasted under the broiler.
  2.  Eggs: Cheaper by the dozen. A dinner of eggs is not only cheap but also quick and easy. From scrambled, poached, over-easy or hard boiled, eggs never disappoint.
  3.  French Toast/Pancakes: What’s not to love about breakfast for dinner? It’s cheap, easy and fast to the table. Oh, and it tastes great.
  4.  Baked Ziti: This dish always satisfies. Mix equal parts spaghetti sauce, Alfredo sauce and cooked ziti. The stuff from the jar is just fine here. Stir in as much mozzarella as you like and bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes. Enjoy.
  5.  Pasta Salad: Make up a batch of your favorite pasta salad, from scratch or from a box, and add leftover chicken or steak. This is a great way to extend leftovers when there isn’t quite enough for everyone.
  6.  Chuck Roast: A chuck roast is an inexpensive cut of meat that, when purchased on sale, can go a long way to feed a family.
  7.  Fried Rice: Jazz up a box of fried rice with leftover chicken (finely diced), frozen peas, shredded carrots and scrambled eggs.
  8.  Ramen Noodles: The ubiquitous meal of college students can be augmented nicely with leftover chicken, steak or fish and stir fry vegetables for the budget-conscious family.
  9.  Tacos: These are always a cheap way to feed a lot of people inexpensively because they really only require a tablespoon or two of beef.
  10.  Soup: Vegetable, potato, cauliflower, tomato, you name it. Soup is a great way to warm bellies up without spending a lot of money per serving.
  11.  Chicken Legs: Always a popular loss leader with grocery store chains, chicken legs can be bought cheaply and cooked over a dozen different ways.
  12.  Nachos: Just ¼ pound of ground beef, some veggies, some beans and a ton of cheese make this a cheap and fun meal for a family movie night.
  13. Stuffed Peppers: A great way to extend ground beef and make it go further is to mix it with rice, which is exactly why stuffed peppers is a great meal for dinner on the cheap.
  14. Peroigis:  These little potato filled Polish dumplings are best sautéed in butter with green peppers and onions. Serve with sour cream and a side of applesauce.
  15. Stir Fry: Every frugal mom (and dad) knows that a stir fry is a great way to use up all the cook-me-now vegetables in the fridge.
  16. Whole Chicken: Another popular loss leader, a roasted chicken with mashed potatoes is a great meal on the cheap.
  17. Chili: Another easy way to stretch a pound of ground beef is to make a batch of stick-to-your-ribs chili.
  18. Baked Potato: Find the biggest Russet potatoes you can, bake them and fill them with all sorts of good stuff, from broccoli and cheese to leftover pot roast.
  19. Pasta: Noodles are cheap. If you spend the time to make a pot of homemade sauce, you not only transform noodles into a great meal but also have extra sauce to stash away in the freezer.
  20. Hamburgers with a Twist: Last but not least, you can stretch a pound of ground beef by mixing in bread crumbs, beans or vegetables and create flavorful burgers, too.

How do you make dinner on the cheap?

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7 Free & Low Cost Ways to Entertain Kids

July 13, 2011 By 1 Comment

Kids are expensive and keeping them entertained in a tough economy can be a challenge for any parent. You don’t have to spend a ton of money to keep them from driving Kids at the Zooyou crazy. If you are short on cash or short of ideas, try one of these low cost entertainment ideas.

1.    Indoor Scavenger Hunt:  Start by having everyone wear a cape or a funny hat. Create a list of 10-20 objects in your house that your kids would recognize by description. It can be easy for toddlers (the book with the purple bunny) or hard for older children (a 1972 penny); either way, it will keep them busy for at least half an hour or longer.

2.    Annual Zoo Pass: For only a little more than the cost of a family visit to the zoo (or your favorite museum), you can usually buy an annual membership. The cost is often tax deductible and, once purchased, you have a free entertainment option for the rest of the year. Often, members are invited to special invites or receive additional discounts and passes in the mail.

3.    Nature Walk: Plan an outing in the woods or at the park. Make an event out of it by giving each child a list of items to spot along the way, a paper lunch bag to put things in and a camera (real or fake). Be sure have them take pictures of bugs and butterflies and collect some rocks and leaves in their bags. Include a pen so they can cross things off their list.

4.    Bubble Bath: Technically, this kills two birds with stone. It gets them clean and they have free fun, especially toddlers. You can even collect special bubbles or soaps from hotels for the special occasion or let them “swim” in their bathing suits.

5.    Bike Parade: Spend the morning letting them decorate their bikes with found objects from around the house. Ribbons, colored paper and other knick-knacks can all be called into duty. It is also fun to dress up and take pictures before the big parade around the block. It doesn’t have to be a holiday to have a (free) parade.

6.    Goop: This strange sounding concoction that is similar to runny playdoh is a cheap way to have fun. Mix ½ cup cornstarch to a ¼ of water, per child. If you want colored Goop, add food coloring to the water. Allow each child to stir the runny mixture and then play with it.

7.    Water the Garden: Even if you have the most amazing pool, children are drawn to the hose. Aside from the increased water bill, letting them play with the hose, water the garden and make a mess is cheap fun and it keeps them out of your hair.

Having family fun doesn’t have to be expensive. With a little imagination and creativity, you can entertain your children without breaking the bank.

What fun, free things are you doing with your children this summer?

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Even More Ways To Cut Your Family’s Expenses Without Them Noticing

July 8, 2011 By 1 Comment

Trimming the fat from you budget does not mean that you need to make sacrifices as a family. In fact, there are many ways to reduce your expenses while still living a fun lifestyle.
1.    Pay a numbers game with your credit cards and loans. If your minimum payment is $26, can you bump it to $30 without feeling the pinch or forfeiting a latte? If a loan or car payment is $427, can you get in the habit of sending $450 every month? You’d be surprised how fast you can get a month ahead this way, instead of the typical month behind.
2.    Cancel the expensive movie channels. Why be forced to watch what a bunch of overpaid executives think you will like. Sign up for NetFlix or, better yet, get free rentals at your local library. You’d be surprised how great their collection can be.
3.    Stop buying video games. At $50 a pop, that can be expensive. Services, like GameFly, rent video games for a monthly low fee. They let you keep them as long as you like. Just return it when you are ready to try something new. RedBox is also getting in on the action with $1 game rentals.
4.    Cleaning supplies are expensive, even with coupons, and there are probably a dozen other ways you could spend that money. Research on the internet for recipes for homemade versions instead. They are cheap, easy to make and, in many instances, safer for your family than that pack of chemically-infused counter wipes.
5.    Have you ever thrown out all the on-their-last-legs vegetables and stale bread when you bring home sacks of fresh groceries. It is such a waste each week to see the food that a family didn’t get around to cooking or eating. Be resourceful. Throw the stale bread in the food processor and make your own bread crumbs. Wrap that ham bone in plastic wrap and store it in the freezer for your next batch of soup. Likewise, vegetable scraps for soup and bananas (peel on) can be thrown in the freezer with zero effort and saved for another day.
6.    If you have small children, invite other families over for a movie night. This can be a simple inexpensive way to entertain a lot of people at once. Even if you don’t want to cook, you can have everyone chip in for pizza or just serve popcorn and homemade cookies. By simply setting up a sheet and projector in the backyard, you can entertain the masses for cheap. In fact, your friends and neighbors will think you are so generous for having them over so much. Let them think that; you know it’s all about living frugally.

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How To Cut Your Expenses Without Your Family Even Noticing

July 7, 2011 By 1 Comment

The first thing that pops in everyone’s mind when they start thinking about cutting unnecessary expenses is no more lattes from Starbucks. Why people pick on Starbucks is confusing. One $4 latte every Friday as a treat for a job well done will not sink a well-planned budget nor will it pay off credit card bills.  Sometimes you need that little pat on the back to make it another week and caffeine is a necessity for some of us.

Instead of singling out your barista, try some of the ideas below to cut back with a greater impact.

1.    Plan to cook. Sometimes you run out of time, groceries or both and, in desperation, run through a local drive-thru. It happens to the best of us but this can be expensive. Spending $20-25 for a family four on hamburgers and cold French fries is such a waste.

 

2.     When you eat out, know where you are going in advance. So many restaurants offer happy hour specials, “Kids eat free” nights and half off pizza days. If you plan ahead and take advantage of these specials, your family will never know that they’re living on a budget.

 

3.    Drinking your 8 glasses a day is great for your health but if you’re drinking bottled water it’s not so healthy on your wallet. Invest in a counter top water filter, like Brita, and re-usable bottles. This can really save money over the course of a year.

 

4.    Being frugal does not mean that you have to sit at home all weekend. Research everything that your community has to offer. There is bound to be a free concert, film festival or museum free day. You could even attend a college lecture for date night with your spouse. Skip dinner and head to the nearest coffee house to discuss the topic at hand. It’s free, fun, educational and fully-caffeinated.

 

5.    Why spend a day’s pay on entertainment and dinner out with friends. Go old school and invite them over for a rousing game of cards or a board game. A few cocktails and an hors d’oeuvre and you’ve got a memorable, cheap evening.

 

6.    Get handy. Learn how to fix stuff and stop running out to replace everything the minute it stops working. Use the money you saved to start paying off those credit card bills.

 

7.    Pay your mortgage twice a month. This simple trick can save you thousands over the life of your mortgage in interest and can pay it off up to seven years earlier. Simply take the amount that you would normally pay and pay half on the 1st and the other half on the 15th (or whatever days work for you). At the end of the year you will have made one extra full payment. *Note: some mortgage holders will not allow this method of payment or if they do will accept 2 payments and then hold it creating one payment negating the early payoff & interest savings.

 

All of these tips are small changes to your current lifestyle that your family will never even notice. They will just notice all the fun they are having

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10 Ways To Save on Clothes For Growing Children

July 5, 2011 By 1 Comment

Children may eat you out of house and home but they grow out of their clothes even faster. Resourceful parents know how to save hand-me-downs for younger children Clothingbut where do they get the clothes in the first place? How can you save money when clothes are so expensive and kids always want name brand?
1.    Online Sales:The best part of online sales in the complete lack of emotion. It’s a computer screen; you can’t get caught up in the moment and buy on impulse. Put stuff in your shopping cart and then wait a day. It helps.
2.    End Caps: Mega stores like Target and Walmart often stick stuff they want to move on end caps. You can find some amazing deals there, especially on socks, pajamas and seasonal t-shirts (Happy St. Patrick’s Day anyone?). It’s always fun to surprise your kids next year with that same t-shirt for St. Patrick’s Day knowing that you only paid .50 cents.
3.    Buy Ahead: This basically means that you can purchase clothes several sizes in advance and pack them away until they fit, which will be sooner than you think. In fact, having a stash of clothes for the next size up helps avoid emergency clothing purchases during unseasonably mild or early cold weather.
4.    Trade: Enlist the help of family, friends and neighbors with children to trade clothes. If you are not so lucky, a Google search on “clothing swaps” will net results in your area for local moms that like to attend swap meet style events and trade for other kids clothes with like-minded moms.
5.     Re-Sale Shops:  A step above the Salvation Army, this is a consignment shop of sorts for other moms. They turn in stylish, high quality clothes and, once you buy them, they enjoy cash or a store credit. In fact, you could even turn in your old, unused strollers and high chairs for some free clothing credits.
6.    Salvation Army/Goodwill: While not always on trend, basics like polo shirts and khaki pants never go out of style and they are usually just a dollar or two.
7.    End of Season: You can get great deals buying bathing suits in September, sometimes up to 75-90% off. The same theory applies to winter coats in March. Plan ahead and you’ll be able to dress your children stylishly for much less than the Jones’.
8.    Garage/Yard Sales: Let’s face it. Clothes are tough to sell at garage sales. Head out on the last day and you can pick stuff up cheap. Even if just use for play clothes or that infamous paint shirt for school, you can’t go wrong with a box of clothes for a dollar. Newborn onesies make great doll clothes, too.
9.    Freegan: If you haven’t heard this term before, think dumpster diving for Generation X. Before you judge, many retail stores throw out clothing that has been on the rack too long. They need to move it out of the store and make room for new merchandise that will sell. Many stores do not donate these items but, sadly, throw them behind the store in a dumpster.
10.    Craigslist.org: Scan the free listing for clothing in your area that is being left at the curb. Sometimes this effort yields clothes the wrong size but you can always donate them and help another mom.

What are some of the ways that you use to save money on clothing?

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A Penny Saved Is A Penny Earned – Frugal Living Starts Small

February 23, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Sometimes it seems like all the money-saving strategies we hear about are so big and involved.  But, that doesn’t necessarily have to be true.

Yes, big cuts in spending yield big rewards, but the simple things we do are sometimes the best ways to save money.  Why?  Because the simpler the method for saving, the more likely we are to actually do it.

You may not see a lot of money saved in any one small step, but the pennies do add up.  As we know, “A penny saved is a penny earned.”  Let’s see what we can do, simply, to help you save your pennies.

Eat home-cooked meals

This is a must-do for every family on a budget.  Carry-out or drive-through meals will kill any budget.  Don’t think you can breeze by this money-saving step.  You MUST cook at home or you’ll be forever spinning your wheels wondering where the money went.  There are countless quick and easy recipes to try that your family will love.  The easiest way I found to work home-cooked meals into my daily schedule is with my crockpot.  Check out some of my favorite crockpot recipes and see how easy it is to cook at home.

Cook with leftovers in mind

Making leftovers on purpose is one way to turn your freezer into a bank.  Package up the leftovers into single-serving size containers and you’ll never think about driving through the fast-food place again.  Just dig into your freezer and dinner is ready.  Chose recipes that are good for doubling or tripling; recipes for soups, stews, chili, and spaghetti sauce.  Cook up a big batch and serve half for dinner that night and the rest goes in containers and in the freezer.  With this method, your freezer will be overloaded before you know it.

Get rid of those luxury drinks

If you buy sodas or fancy coffee-shop coffees, you are spending money you don’t have to spend.  You can still have your coffee and sweet drinks, you just have to be smarter.  A pitcher of Lemonade and some home-brewed Cafe Latte will save you a bundle.  Find a few interesting and delicious recipes for making inexpensive beverages at home and you can have your cake and eat it too… or at least your Mocha Espresso.

Shop at consignment or thrift shops

Even if you swear you only buy at sale prices when you go to the store, those prices are still far and above what you can get a similar item for at a consignment shop.  Mark up on retail is so high that stores can easily afford to give you 50% or even 75% off the retail price.  Take a spin through your local thrift shops and you will be amazed at what you can find – good quality at ridiculously low prices.  Before you know it, you will have developed a “second hand shopping savvy” that will yield big savings.

The next time you take out your wallet to make a purchase, ask yourself this simple question; “Is there a better way to spend my money?”   Take a moment to review your options.  I can just about guarantee, you’ll see at least a few frugal alternatives to what you are buying.

I hope you enjoyed these simple money-saving ideas.  I also hope you’ll take a few minutes to read more of the frugal tips I’ve shared here on MomsInABlog.  When you do, please be sure to leave a comment so Tracy and I get to know more about you, and what you like, or don’t like, about these posts.  Thank you for visiting with me here and be sure to stop by HillbillyHousewife.com for more frugal tips and ideas.

Warmly,

Susanne – The Hillbilly Housewife
www.HillbillyHousewife.com

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Family Budget: Savings Suggestions

December 28, 2010 By Leave a Comment

You and your spouse have come to an agreement on the family budget. Part of that budget and part of your goal as a family is to have a regular savings program and save for high-priced items. The plan sounds great but how you go about implementing the plan is another issue altogether. The task seems quite difficult and overwhelming. The key to remember to help you get started saving is to start small. Take small steps to start getting in the habit of savings.

Think of this: if you were to just put aside one dollar a day you would have $365 at the end of the year to put into savings. Just two dollars a day would double that. Think about it carefully. Some of us spend two dollars a day just buying coffee at the coffee shop when we could maybe cut back and find another more economical way to get our coffee, such as have our coffee fix in the morning right before leaving for work. We could start at the one dollar a day and over time increase it to $5 a day or $150 a month. $150 a month is $1,800 a year in savings. It adds up very fast.

Some experts suggest that a family should set aside 10% of their income for savings. However, if a family studies their budget and realizes that they cannot save 10% then it would be wise to save whatever they can. It would be better to save 1% than to not save any money at all. The key is to start small, as the overall task won’t look so overwhelming. Just look around and carefully analyze where you spend your money on a daily basis. Look at the small things like those two sodas you buy from the vending machine everyday. You could buy a week’s worth of soda at the grocery store at a much cheaper price and put it in the refrigerator at work for usually a lot less and save the difference.

Just One Dollar

Just One Dollar

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Family Budget: Retirement Saving Starts Today

December 28, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Most young adults do not think about retirement too much. This is definitely the case with young teenagers as well. However, it does not change the fact that we all will grow older and that retirement day will fast approach. It stands to reason that we are never too young to start planning for retirement and part of that plan is to start saving money and getting a good return on the investment of what is saved.

Just think about it. If a young person starts saving at age 18 and retires at age 65, then that is 47 years of steady saving. If a person were to save a dollar a day then that in and of itself would be $17,000+ dollars without even the consideration of interest. If a person is to save $1 a day for 47 years at a 5% return and a 3.1% inflation rate, that savings would grow to around $70,000. Thus, you cannot start too young. In fact the younger you start saving for your retirement, the better.

Initially, you might want to invest your money into some investment vehicles that provide high rates of return. These of course will be the riskier investments, as they tend to return higher rates. When you are young, it is advisable to do this because you can bounce back from market downturns with plenty of time to recover. As you get older and closer to retirement, you want to protect what you have accumulated and keep the investments in less-risky vehicles. Of course, you won’t achieve the high rates of return that you would in the risky ones but the idea here is to protect yourself from taking losses close to retirement. Also, make sure that all of your retirement investments are tax-deferred in that you do not want taxes to negatively impact you while you are building your retirement fund.

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Frugal Living: Christmas Shopping All Year Long

December 27, 2010 By Leave a Comment

If you’re a last-minute shopper during the holiday season, you’ve no doubt fallen victim to sky-high prices of gift items. During the holidays, it’s a well-known fact that department stores and shop owners hike up their prices to take advantage of the high demand.

If you want to avoid spending huge amounts of money on items that aren’t that expensive in the first place, consider shopping off-season, particularly just after the holidays. During this time, prices go back to normal; many even go on sale, because the demand has passed and marketers still want to rake in profit. If you buy off-season, you can take advantage of all-time low prices and save a lot of money for your budget.

The apparent downside of this is you’ll be shopping for holiday gifts as early as January. If it’s unthinkable for you to do your holiday shopping in January, then you don’t have to shop for that sole reason. You can purchase items that can double as birthday gifts for friends and family, and you can even buy essential items you can use yourself.

However, if you think about it, shopping for holiday gifts in January and in the other early months of the year is actually convenient for both your time and budget. As long as you don’t plan on giving food items, you can start your holiday shopping as early as you want it to be. You don’t have to jostle with other last-minute shoppers. You don’t have to feel time-pressured. And the best thing is you also don’t have to feel the pain of having a sizable chunk cut off from your budget. You can just store the items in your closest and bring them out when the next holiday comes. You can simply sit back and enjoy wrapping the gifts while everyone else is stressfully running about in shops.

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