From freezer cooking to reusing our items, we have been working our way through the kitchen to save money. We’ve also thrown in a few other surprises. I’m so glad that the holiday spending is over, and we can get back to being really frugal.
Here is the Frugal Living week in review for January 7th through January 13th.
January 7th
Have you been following our frugal kitchen tips? They are great ideas for saving money in the busiest room in the house. I like to concentrate on this room, because I find that establishing good frugal habits in the kitchen can take me a long way to saving money. Plus, it is always fun for me to save in the kitchen.
How I Saved Money By Meal Planning
As I mentioned in the previous article, I have spent the greater part of this year utilizing meal planning to help stay more organized and save some extra cash. I was able to show you yesterday, that I did indeed begin saving money after practicing meal planning.
Still More Frugal Kitchen Tips
Wow we have a lot of great kitchen tips to get through. Which ones have been your favorites so far? Are there any more frugal kitchen tips that you would like to share with us? I have my favorites of course, but I am always looking for new ideas that can save me money.
January 8th
Frugal Things to Do with Citrus Peels
In my house, we have been going through oranges like crazy. The stores have them all on sale, especially naval oranges and clementine oranges. The kids absolutely love them. I have been picking them up at buy one get one free specials, and two boxes or bags only last the week. Lemons have also been on sale, and I have been incorporating them into meals and making them into vitamin-C packed lemonade.
Flattening Your Freezer Cooking
While I am by no means an expert on freezer cooking, I do like to practice it whenever I can. I stock up on ingredients and freeze them, such as shredded cheese, make freezer soup and double or triple my meals so that we have some portions to freeze for next time.
January 9th
Freezing meals and ingredients for meals can be a smart idea when it comes to frugal living. Meal planning and having dinner ready to just pop in the oven on busy nights certainly makes eating out less desirable, and that immediately helps your budget. Buying food in bulk and then freezing the excess can also save you money by reducing your grocery bill.
Breadmaker Breakdown of Savings (1)
Do you have a breadmaker? It can be one of the best small appliances in the arsenal for frugal living. You can save a ton by making your own bread. In the past, I have written how the breadmaker can greatly reduce your bread cost. Breadmakers aren’t just for bread, either. Even the basic models can make dough which can be turned into so many different goods that will provide your family with low cost meals. Fancier models can make jams, quick breads, and even deserts.
January 10th
Breadmaker Breakdown of Savings (2)
In the previous article, Breadmaker Breakdown of Savings (1), I started talking about a breadmaker can be a great small appliance for saving money. Making bread is fun and frugal, but there are also so many other foods that can be made in it. Sometimes this depends on the features that the breadmaker model has, but anything having to do with dough can usually be made in even the most basic models.
Calculate the Real Cost of a Purchase
So often when we make purchases or other financial decision, we consider long and hard the assumed cost of an item without calculating the real cost of that item. There are all sorts of added costs that come in to play on most of the things we purchase.
January 11th
You can reuse so many different and common objects that you might normally throw away. Here is a quick A to Z guide on how to reuse these items to save money and the environment. Along the way, I hope you’ll add your own ideas.
Reuse from A to Z! (B Continued)
Ready to keep going with our reuse ideas? So far, we’ve covered the letter A and some of the letter B. Let’s continue to find creative ways to reuse our items and save money.
Whenever we can reuse something, we save money. Reusing something is better than recycling it in many cases, because the item gets a second life without the expense and energy of breaking it down and making it into something new. Plus, you can always recycle it down the road, once you have exhausted all of its reuse possibilities.