by Christina Renee | Home, Meals, Saving Money
1. I plan my menus on what I found on sale last week and not what I am planning on buying this week. I keep my freezer and pantry stocked with rock bottom prices to save money on food.
2. I try never to buy anything that is not on sale. Obviously, it’s not possible with everything but it is with most items. For example, last week one of my favorite stores had cottage cheese 1/2 off. I stocked up enough to last a while. Another store I know has pasta on sale about every 10 weeks. I buy enough to last 10 weeks and don’t buy it in the meantime.
3.I use coupons on things we use regularly or things that are free or almost free. I also use online coupons such as Ibotta.
4. I don’t use coupons on things I wouldn’t normally buy anyway just to try them or use a coupon.
5. Make most things from scratch. I think the only thing cheaper to buy in a mix is mac and cheese but it doesn’t have much cheese in it. In everything else it is both cheaper and more nutritious to make it yourself.
6. Shop more than 1 store. It is much cheaper to buy the sales and loss leaders at more than one store than everything at one store.
7. Use an Aldi’s is you have one. They rarely run sales but their prices are low all the time. Also look for specialty stores such as mexican, chinese; they have food there cheaper than in a regular grocery store.
8. Try to find a discount or salvage store in your area. We have a dented store that i get great buys at. I have bought yogurt for $2 a case, chocolate chips for 50 cents a bag, and many other great deals.
9. Do ahead for the week. I cut as many vegetables as we will eat all at once. I brown hamburger ahead of time and bag it. Make an extra casserole and freeze one and cook one. When you make soup or stews make extra.
10. Make over leftovers. We had beef stroganoff Saturday and I had noodles left so I added a little browned hamburger, beans and spices and made goulash today for dinner.
11. Have dessert infrequently. It isn’t that good for you and sweets are usually costly.
12. Grow your own fruits and vegetables. We always have a garden and we have fruit trees. It saves on our grocery bill and I know what is in our food.
13. Glean or let the word out you will take extras. My father-in-law has a friend who loves to garden but doesn’t use much himself so he gives a lot away. I have seen other do the same, they want someone who will take it and put it up.
14. Can, or freeze your food. We can a lot in the summer of fresh produce so we have it in the winter. Talk to your children about being ants in the summer and preparing for winter. It is a lot of work but so worth it.
15. Eat soup at least once a week. Soup is a cheap meal and you can make many different kinds from all sorts of leftovers. With a loaf of hot bread it makes a feast.
16. Make your own bread. I can’t believe how high bread has gotten but it can still be made more economically at home. I see bread machines all the time at Goodwill too.
17. Rotate a lot of the same meals. Our lunches and breakfasts from week to week don’t vary much. We have the same meal for lunch every Monday, the same on Tuesday. This way you don’t have to stock your pantry with as many different items.
18. Make dinner fun. No, it doesn’t really save you money but a frugal meal with lots of love is better than a gourmet feast with strife. Candles add a lot of atmostphere without a lot of cost.
19. Involve your children. Sometimes they can turn their nose up at food but if they help prepare it or better yet grow it they will be thrilled to taste and share it.
20.Buy in bulk, if you will use it. I bought 150 lbs of potatoes last week when they were on sale. Also, GFS sells gallon cans, meat they will slice and you can prepackage it at home. I buy meat on sale in bulk and package it in meal size freezer bags.
21. Once a month cooking saves both time and money. When I buy meat in bulk and prepackage it, a lot of times I dump different marinades in each. Then they are ready for the grill or crockpot.
22.Buy spices in bulk. Frontier herbs sell by the pound but if you only want a little a lot of health food stores sell small amounts. One near us will let you buy 50 cents of any spice. That way I can try a small amount of a new spice.
23.Spend as little time in the grocery store as possible. The longer you are there the more you will buy.
24. Try and make it at home. If you love Red Lobsters biscuits try and look on the web for a comparable recipe. You can find so many recipes that are makeovers of restaurant meals. It is definitely cheaper to stay home.
25.Look for markdowns. I stopped in yesterday at GFS and they had their holiday fresh turkeys marked down for 99 cents a lb. Different stores have them in different places so you have to check and find out where they are. Most stores mark down in the morning but we have one near us that does it at night. You can save a lot of money by asking the butcher what time they sell mark downs.
What tips do you have to save money on food?
by Christina Renee | Christmas, Holidays
Rethinking Christmas Traditions
I have been working on the H
oliday Grand Plan and one of the weeks they have you question the values, activities, etc. that make Christmas important to you. We have a large family, 10 children, grandchildren, spouses, parents, etc. I thought by now I knew all the Christmas traditions that they loved.
But some things that I thought were important; to my family were not. So use this time to talk over with your family and you may find out some of the things that you are wearing yourself out over are just not that important to them. So I am rethinking our Christmas traditions; to keep or change?
Changing Christmas Traditions
You may find that they don’t want to go to the Nutcracker every year but would rather stay home and make snowball fights.
That they want to use (gasp!) decorated paper plates for Christmas rather than china.
Find out Their Favorites
That your youngest daughter’s 2 favorite things are caroling to the neighbors and bringing them cookies and having the family picture taken for cards. (Now that is strange. Have you ever tried to get 10 people to match, not let anyone get dirty before we leave, all the hair and make up done, we have 7 daughters. It takes hours and we haven’t even left the house yet. Then get everyone to smile at the same time.) And this? is her favorite thing? Strange bird.
That your other daughter’s favorite is the Grinch Night (more to come). And she hates going to the Live Nativity. Except for the hot chocolate and cookies.
As They Grow
You might need to change Christmas traditions as your children grow up and what was once fun is not now. Or rotating some and doing them every other year instead of every year.
So we are making adjustments this year. I am trying to simplify a little so I can enjoy Christmas as much as the rest of my family.
by Christina Renee | Christmas, Holidays
I love Christmas, the sights, the smells, the decorations, the feeling of expectation. There is something wonderful about having a whole season focused on…..Christ. Christmas is Christ Coming.
Focus
What is your focus? If you go into the world,; it is presents, the gimmee’s, Santa, shopping, rushing, doing and all the stuff that goes along with it. The decorating, the tree and themselves. Smile. Or do you focus on Christmas as Christ Coming?
But to have a whole season to be able to be focused on Jesus, that is a gift. Yes, I know we should do that every day, but to have this season of anticipation… Can you imagine so long ago the anticipation they had waiting for Jesus to come? Knowing He would change our lives forever. Do you anticipate His second coming as much as you do Christmas?
Giving
My children joke I am the biggest child at Christmas. I love to decorate for my family, to bake, to buy presents and look forward to how much they will enjoy them. I love to teach my children why we do the things we do at Christmas. Why do we give presents and decorate and bake. Each year we bake a lot. We carol and give cookies to out neighbors. It is my son’s favorite activity for this time of year. He has been repeatedly asking when they can go give cookies out. And sing, loudly to the neighbors. I have been telling him he needs to wait within a week of Christmas. So we looking forward to delivering cookies and having a wonderful time. Giving, not getting.
Anticipation- Christmas is Christ Coming
Don’t you imagine that Jesus is having a wonderful time anticipating us coming to heaven. We know He is getting a place ready for us. Don’t you think it will be wonderfully decorated with a feast waiting for us. Isn’t it hard to wait for that?
by Christina Renee | Children, Home
We have an open door policy. I told a friend today it’s a revolving door policy. But hospitality for your kids is just as important as for adults. For one thing, I know where my children are and what they are doing. But this is also an important thing for them to learn so they can implement that in their lives when they’re older.
Activies
Have things for them that aren’t vidio games if possible. We don’t even have one, but I don’t think that they are conductive to conversation. That could be just my own pet peeve but I don’t like them so engrossed in video games they forget people. We have a large number of games, both board games and cards. Look up new card game rules online when we don’t know them. Have puzzles and I love printing off questions for dinner conversations that often branch off in other areas. We do watch movies together but their favorite is theme movie/dinners. Which leads to…
Food
Theme dinners are their very favorite. We love to pair dinner and a movie. I know one of the things is eating in the living room. Be creative. Cheaper by the Dozen – franks and beans. We had a Transformer party with all the hats, plates and renamed food. You don’t have to keep the same name for dishes. We have a Grinch party every year- It’s my daughters favorite. Grinch droppings are peas. Mistle toes are chicken fingers. Roast beast- I’m sure you can guess.
We always have popcorn available and it’s ok to serve water any time. You don’t have to go overboard. Make and freeze cookie dough in advance so it’s ready for last minute. Make sure and mark it something unappetizing like liver or chicken feet. They’ll never touch it. For dinners, with teens and boys, just make sure there’s an abundance. Spagetti, chili, soups, and casseroles all stretch far and fills them up. I always have bread of some kind too. And very few will say no to dessert even if it’s thrown together, a boxed mix or even simply fruit.
Manners
Now is a good time to practice those company manners. Go over it with them ahead of time. Introductions will be easy the rest of their life if it’s second nature as a child. They need activities in mind and offer them to their guest. That way the favorite toy and be put up and they can still be a good host and follow what their guest would like. They need practice in offering beverages and snacks. It shouldn’t be all up to Mom. Let them know ahead of time what to offer and let them do it. Hospitality for your kids doesn’t normally come naturally. Teach them. Practice before they have a friend over. You be the guest and coach them.
by Christina Renee | Home, Thoughts
I want to be living life on purpose. Not just doing what is easy or urgent. It’s so much easier to do whatever looks like its necessary to do next, not thinking and planning and doing. I’ve tried New Years resolutions that never made it past January, let alone October. So I am trying to strengthen bad habits and add new ones a couple at a time. As a busy mom and (also right now not as able to get around) I don’t do it all. However, I do manage it all. Here are some things that work for me and habits I am adding.
Rising Early
I have my quiet time with God in the morning. It is what sustains me through the day and keeps me going, as well as being a much kinder person. I like to get a head start on the morning before anyone gets up. If I arise late I feel behind the whole day. But that starts with going to bed early which I am going to have to work much harder at. So I need to set a bedtime and stick with it.
A Schedule
A schedule… things flow so much smoother with a schedule. Children know what to expect and they really do like it. We get much more done, both the necessary stuff, homework, housework, meals, and laundry. As well as the fun stuff, baking, scrap booking, game night and fishing.
Exercise
I need to add in exercise on a daily basis. I have a tendency to jump in and do too much and them none at all. I need to start slow and keep it a steady pace. I also need to find sitting exercise as I can’t put weight on my foot now. No excuses.
Housework
I use Motivated Moms daily charts for housework. But I don’t always follow every day. I’ve also been subscribed to Fly Lady and read a lot of Don Aslets books. All help but doing is what keeps up, not reading about it.
Child training
This has to be a priority before anything else. It is so easy to get busy and not want to stop in the middle of what I am doing to train a child and think it takes to much time. But it actually takes less time when they are young than to root out bad habits in them that are later much harder to break. I have to be willing to stop what I am doing and make this my first priority.
Meal Plan
I am very good at shopping and stocking my pantry with all the sales but less so at making menus. I need to get into an every week habit of doing this. I am also going to keep track of how much money I actually save using coupons. I need to keep a freezer inventory so I know what I have.
Laundry
Laundry is easy to keep up when I make sure it’s done by noon. I start one load as soon as I get up an another after the children leave for school. I have them all folded before the children get home from school and they put them away. Now if I could just keep up with the socks.
What tips are habits do you have to be living life on purpose instead of by chance?
by Christina Renee | Home, Simplify
You can hear a lot of talk about minimalism. Not keeping things unless they “spark joy”. I love the idea much better than my family but we are working on it more and more. We have taken several loads to Goodwill, or given to other family members. It’s easier to clean and have people drop in and not be embarrassed.
A Stuffed Closet
Recently, I went through my daughter room with them. It took aallllll day long. Really. We worked 3 hours on the closet alone. But I listened more this time. Not only did we get rid of the clothes that didn’t fit but also the ones they didn’t love. You know, the ones you buy because they would look so cute on. Or it fits really well but it’s the wrong shade of blue. The ones that get pushed to the back of the closet or more likely, the floor. So I listened. I told them if they did’t love it and it didn’t fit well, we would get rid of it. We filled 7 bags. And my children are not naked. They still have plenty of clothes to wear. We did an inventory to see what they needed for school and there are very few needs. Mostly, under garments. Definitely not socks, all the missing socks I thought the dyer ate were in their room, at least most of them.
Room by Room
So I am going through the rest of the house little by little. A couple months ago I gave my son 2 boxes of kitchen items that I culled in the kitchen. I haven’t missed any of them. I’ve gotten rid of books. I park my car in the garage. Whoo hoo! That’s a first. We had surprise house guests yesterday. They said they’d be there in about half an hour. We scurried and picked up and it was done. We didn’t need to hide things in the closet, no dishes in the oven. Please tell me some of you have done that. It was wonderful
Choosing What to Keep
There has been a few things I’ve regretted giving up but they have been far and few between. I have way more to go but I’m looking forward to reaping the benefits. I don’t recommend doing someone else’s things unless they are there to help go through it. Also an easier way is setting a certain number to have and letting them pick their favorites. It makes choices easier than picking what to get rid of. Have you been giving up stuff or more peace in your home? Let me know how
