Frugal Living

[Calypso]

What do you do to save money?

When I worked, we used to go out or order in a lot. Now, I cook a lot more. I also stretch meals and we do leftovers quite a bit. I find that cooking more not only helps me save money, but it also helps us eat better. DH and I are on a low carb diet, and that's usually pretty expensive, but I've found some wonderful alternatives to meats. I make a pretty good low carb eggplant parmesan (no bread at all--I use grated parmesan cheese and egg to coat the eggplant). I also do really good stuffed portabello mushrooms. We do grill steaks and chicken, but we do a huge batch on the weekends and that gives us dinner for that night and about 2 - 3 nights after that. I make fajitas out of leftover steak and chicken. I also use steak strips on salads and, of course, grilled chicken strips. The chicken can also be used for chicken salad--yum!

We eat lots of veggies which are not only healthy, but a lot cheaper than processed stuff. I buy a bunch of lettuce and then wash an store it so it's ready to go. I used to buy the pre-packaged, but there is no comparison to the fresh stuff for taste. :)

I also look for sales on meats and then buy in bulk. We do lots of other bulk shopping when we can for items such as toilet paper, paper towels, cheese, dog/cat food, etc. We even found really good frozen fish that we can buy in bulk that's a whole lot cheaper than buying it fresh. I get about 14 fillets of tallipia for about $7.00!

The other thing I do is keep the air conditioning on a high temp so it doesn't come on too much, if at all. That's a big thing for me b/c I'm ALWAYS hot. But, being at home makes it easier to just hang out in shorts and a t-shirt, so just fans are okay. :)

What do you do to save money?

[Mom24Girls]

Save money? I'm supposed to save money?? :lol: :awink:

We do a lot of the things you mentioned above.

I like to use my Crock Pot a LOT, and make big batches of things like, chili, beef stew, pasta sauce, chicken dishes, etc. and freeze the leftovers for another meal.

We shop for our paper goods (paper plates, napkins, paper towels, tissues, etc.) at Wal-Mart, where they are way cheaper than at the grocery store or BJ's. AND, you can get the bulk packages.

We buy a lot of store brands rather than name brands, and save a lot that way.

We now have a chest freezer (my parents didn't need it anymore and gave it too us! :yippee: ) so we too try to buy meats when they are on sale and freeze them. The same with butter and other items that freeze well.

That's all I can think of for now. :)

[HollyNSC]

I have found that eating Turkey Meat is very good...I love turkey meatloaf...

[ravenwycce]

This is something that DH and I are trying to work on now, so that we can try to get used to living in a more frugal manner before we have a baby. Else, it would be more of a shock when the time comes, you know?

Anyway, the goal is that I will be able to be a SAHM, and to that end we are doing a lot of eating in, buying things in bulk from BJ's (as much as we can anyway, with a smallish kitchen), and eating a lot more in the way of homemade foods instead of pre-packaged and proccessed stuff.

What I need to do still is pick up a cookbook of crockpot recipes. My mom made a lot of crockpot soups and things when I was a kid and I loved it. It saves a lot of money too!

I love your idea of using leftover chicken for fajitas. That is one area I still need to work on: getting creative with leftovers. That is a great idea, though, and I think I will have to use it!

[Priscilla]

We dont really cut cost with generics or anything like that although recently we've been buying some stuff in bulk.

[peaches312004]

I use coupons regularly and I really save a lot of money that way. The trick is to use a coupon that will be doubled on an item that is already on sale. Just don't get caught up buying things you don't need even if the price is good, and keeping track of which coupons you have and when they expire.