A Few Money Saving Tips!

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Around here we are on a budget. Jacob works full time, and I stay home with the kiddos. While I am eternally grateful to be able to do this, I feel like there is something I need to do to help out more and stretch our dollars. Which infact can be helpful when you have three growing girls and neighbor’s kids who love to come hang out and Chow down. Coupons are great, but not everyone has time for that.

Creating a budget can sometimes seem intimidating at times. Once you get the hang of it, it becomes simple, especially for grocery budgets. I am working on a post that will help those new to budget making, look for it next week!

Here are some simple things that have helped us!

Quick Money Saving Tips

• Make a menu. Plan out what you want to have for the next week, breakfast, dinner, lunches and snacks. Look through the fridge, freezer, pantry and cupboards to see what you have and what you can make with that. A good little Planner like this one really helps to stay organized.
• Make a grocery list off of that menu so you aren’t tempted to buy whatever looks good in the store.
• Discounted fruits and veggies. Yeah that sounds gross, I know. Trust me though! If you are going to eat it quick, then buy it, a lot of stores sell over ripe bananas at a discount, tada! Banana bread! Plus if you get the veggies that are discounted you can blanch them real quick and throw them in a freezer bag for when you need them.
• Look for discounted meat. Again, it sounds dirty. It’s not though! Stores can only keep meat for so long and then they need to sell it. We buy it up, bring it home and either cook it or vacuum sealer it and throw it in the freezer.
• Buy in bulk when you can. This is especially true if you have a bulk bin type store (I miss WinCo Foods!) Or if you found a two for one deal.
• Get the whole olives and chop them yourself! Whole olives are generally cheaper by about a dollar that the pre chopped ones! It takes no time at all and you get more out of one can.
• Make your own salads. Buying the bagged stuff never lasts as long and a head of lettuce is cheaper than a bag of the chopped kind.
• Grate your own cheese. I’ve been guilty of buying bags of the preshredded stuff, but generally try to grate the cheese myself. I store it in a baggie in the fridge.
• Learn to cook. I know not everyone has the time to cook, but even cooking a few meals yourself will save you money in the long run! Fast food and other restaurants add up quickly.
• Make homemade snacks. Sure lunchables are quick and easy, but you could save a butt load by buying your own crackers and lunch meat and assembling your own!
• Buy the store brand stuff.
• Get the fruits and veggies that are in season. You can store them in the freezer or take up canning!
• Reuse left overs! If we make tacos, and have left over taco meat, I make scrambled eggs, throw in the meat some chopped peppers and onions from the tacos add some seasonings and viola! A breakfast burrito.

That’s all for now! I hope this helped you, more tips on the way!

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