This following is a frugal tip from Simply Frugal reader, Lorraine!
I thought I would simply drop you a line about how I try to stretch the clothing budget. Rather than buy clothing at the beginning of a season when items are at the highest prices, we wait until the very last two weeks of the season when clothing goes on sale for 80% – 90% off. We shop the quality clothing stores and although we do not spend a fortune, we are well clothed with items that last a few years. We also tend to buy mostly classic styles that are fashionable for many years and build onto the basic wardrobe of dark slacks and dresses and add a touch of colour in the tops or jackets. For instance, I purchased two jackets lately. One was marked at a regular price of $195.00 and the other was marked at the regular price of $145.00. I got the first one for $39.99 and the second one for $19.99. I purchased slacks that were originally priced at $110.00 for $29.99. Last March, I purchased a value of $899.00 worth of clothing for the frugal sum of $215.00 with tax. The secret is to drop into the store often and keep an eye on a piece of clothing that you need and wait until it is the best price it will be during that season. Then, ask the store manager if you can get a further reduction later on if the item is further reduced. Many stores will give you the lowest price within a certain time frame. The store I deal with has a two week grace period, so I drop in once every week during that period and check to see if the item is further reduced and take advantage of further reductions if they apply.
I pretty well use the same concept for all of our purchases and shop when the sale cycle for items is in effect. By having a good stockpile, this allows me to wait out the sales and stretch our budget further and be able to treat ourselves to occasional wants versus needs.
I hope this information helps your readers as I am sure that most of them are in the same boat as most Canadians just trying to live on a budget while still enjoying life’s little pleasures.
Dinner parties are so much fun to host! However, hosting a dinner party can get very expensive if not planned properly. Dinner parties don't have to be expensive, in fact you can throw a very frugal party! Keep reading and you will be well on your way to saving money on your next party.
Keep Appetizers Simple
Every dinner party needs a few appetizers, but don't feel like you have to go above and beyond. You can can create several appetizers on a budget. Buy a big bag of frozen shrimp and set them in some pretty dishes you already own. Have another bowl with cocktail sauce. Buying frozen shrimp is much cheaper than fresh! Make dips and cut up some fresh bread or chips. Your guests are there to enjoy time with you, not critique your appetizers.
Keep the Menu Simple
When it comes to the dinner menu, try to keep it simple. You really don't need to have six courses. Serve a nice green salad, the main course and a dessert. You should also think about shopping the weekly grocery store sales and creating your menu off what is currently on sale. You can stuff chicken breasts, top steaks with cheese and grilled onions, make a roast or anything else you can think of. Making something too unique will only stress you out and cost you more money than you want to spend.
Don't Turn Away Help
If a guest offers to bring something, let them! You don't have to ask them to bring a full-course but suggest an appetizer, bottle of wine or a salad. Even a guest simply bringing a salad is one less thing you have to pay for and prepare. Most of the time guests want to bring something. Take advantage of your guests wanting to help. It will help you out and your guests will be happy to help you.
Use Your Supplies
There is no reason to run out and buy all new dishes. Take a look around your kitchen and see what you already own. Get creative with what you can use for serving bowls or serving trays. Most of the time your guests aren't even paying attention to what you are serving food on.
Shop the Dollar Store
The Dollar Store is a great place to pick up items to decorate your table. You will even find serving dishes and bowls at the Dollar Store. For decorating the table, look for candles, candle holders, flower arrangements, vases and even tablecloths. You might be surprised at what you find!
What are your tips for hosting dinner parties on a budget?
Ever since my husband and I were married 15 years ago, I've been planning our weekly menu. Even if I don't take the time to write things down, I still have a few meals in mind that would get us through the week. It's in my nature to be a planner so planning a menu was obvious for my own sanity.
But, even if you're more of an impromptu cook, today I'd like to touch on the importance of menu planning, or why planning a menu is important, no matter what your situation is. We're all busy people so the power of a plan can help each of us tremendously!
Here are four reasons on the importance of menu planning:
Our health
Our health should be one of our main concerns and one way to ensure good health is to eat well. Having a menu plan in place helps you avoid take out and those quick pre-made meals that may not be well rounded. With planned meals, you'll end up with a more balanced and nutritious diet.
Keeps the budget in check
Groceries cost a lot. Save yourself some financial stress by planning your meals and your shopping list based on what's on sale and what you already have in your pantry. With a menu plan in place, you only have to purchase the ingredients you need create the meals you've picked. That's how I only spent about $33 this week on groceries. (Though, I'm anticipating a quick trip to buy more milk and fruit later in the week.)
Your time is important too
Whether you work outside the home or you're a stay-at-home parent, we're all juggling a ton of activities on a daily basis. While planning a menu in the first place takes a little bit of time, it will definitely save you time in the end.
You will always have the ingredients you need to create a meal from your planned menu. No running to the store for a last minute item or opening the fridge and cupboards 500 times to figure out what to make for dinner.
Or realizing it's 5pm and you just spent an hour trying to find a great recipe when dinner could have already been on the table. With a plan in place, all you have to do is pick a meal from the list and make it!
Reduces waste
Have you ever bought food from the grocery store thinking you'll use it for something, but end up throwing it out instead? If you stick to the grocery list that you created based on your planned meals, you won't be purchasing anything that you won't use. In turn, you'll be creating less waste, both in the food sense and financial sense!
I believe that the importance of menu planning cannot be stressed enough. Menu planning has made my life so much easier and I've heard the same from many others! Sometimes, the menu plan is the only thing in the day that goes as planned!
If you really struggle with menu planning, then try out $5 Meal Plan. It happens to be my favorite meal planning service. It’s just $5 a month (the first two weeks are free!), and you get menu plans sent straight to your email along with the exact shopping list you need in order to create the meals. Each meal costs around $2 per person or less. This service allows you to save time because you won’t have to meal plan anymore, and it will save you money as well! If you are interested in joining for free, click here.
What are some other benefits of menu planning that can you add to the list? Let us know in the comments below.
Buying groceries week after week can get extremely expensive! However, you can cut the cost of your grocery bill if you know what to buy and what to cook. Cooking on a budget doesn't mean eating just rice and beans. In fact you can prepare some amazing meals on even the smallest budget! Today's post will give you several tips for cooking on a budget.
7 Tips for Cooking on a Budget
Buy a Whole Chicken
Chicken breasts are significantly more expensive than purchasing a whole chicken. Look for sales on whole chicken and you will be able to stretch your dollar a lot further. Make sure to use all parts of the chicken. To make your money stretch even further, be sure to make chicken stock as well! (Here's a recipe for vegetable stock. To make chicken stock, just add the bones to this recipe.)
Look for Marked Down Meats
When purchasing steaks, pork or ground beef look for meat that has been marked down on clearance. Grocery stores have to sell all meat by the sell by date or throw it away. Stores would prefer not to throw away food so they mark it down low. When you see these clearance sales, stock up and cook it right away or freeze it to be used at a later date.
Use Fillers
You can make your meals stretch further by adding in potatoes, rice, beans, tortillas or whole-grain bread. All of these items can help to fill you up without incorporating a lot of meat.
Buy More Eggs
Eggs are less expensive than buying cereal and provide better nutrients. Eggs are high in protein and you can do so many different things with eggs. You can hard boil eggs for a quick snack on the go or an egg salad sandwich. You can also have a breakfast for dinner night with eggs, toast and some bacon.
Meal Plan
Meal planning is a great way to cook on a budget. Knowing what you will be eating in advance will prevent you from running to the store to pick up items that are not on sale. When you plan your meals in advance you have the opportunity to shop the grocery sales, which can also help save money.
Stock Up
When you find a great price on items your family eats on a regular basis, stock up as much as you can within your budget! Keeping a well stocked pantry means less trips to the store. The less often you have to go grocery shopping, the more money you will be able to save.
Buy the Cheap Cuts of Meat
People tend to avoid buying meats like pork shoulders or a chuck roast because they are a tougher cut of meat. However, both cuts of meat are quite inexpensive and you can make some very tasty stews with these cuts of meat. I suggest cooking these meats in the slow cooker on low for six to eight hours to make them as tender as possible.
What tips do you have for cooking on a budget? Do you have any go-to recipes you can share in the comments?
The following is a tip from Tammi about how to make a roast chicken stretch into many meals! Enjoy!
We have a family of seven. Five boys, my husband and myself. My guys sure know how to pack the food away and now that the 2 oldest are extremely close to becoming teenagers, we are finding that the food bills are going through the roof. Our favorite way to save $ is to purchase a roast chicken from the deli. (I believe we pay $7.99 at Costco?)
The first night we have sliced chicken with a salad and a veggie with a ‘artisan’ type bread while my boys fight over who gets the drumsticks and wings.
Day 2 – strip off as much chicken as possible off of the bones and shred it. We do a couple of different meals with this. Sometimes chicken quesadillas with some chopped onion and peppers, cheese and salsa. It depends on what veggies we have available in the fridge that day. Sometimes we do chicken Caesar wraps with tortillas, romaine lettuce, Caesar dressing, croutons and shredded chicken and chopped tomatoes. After wrapping, we throw them in a hot cast iron pan to sear them and give them that ‘restaurant’ wrap feel and taste.
Day 3 – throw the bones and leftover chicken bits and pieces in a large stock pot along with veggie scraps that I have been saving in the freezer to make chicken broth. Boil for a few hours and add water as needed. By the time you are finished, you will have a lovely chicken broth. Drain the stock through a colander and discard the bones and veggies – but make sure to strip off any more chicken that you can find. Take the remaining stock and split it in half. First we make chicken spaghetti with one half of the stock. (my kids FAVORITE meal!) Here’s how to make chicken spaghetti:
Put half of the stock back in the stock pot and add a few cups of water.
Add a few handfuls of spaghetti to the stock and boil for about 10-15 minutes. What is nice about this casserole is that you do not have to drain the spaghetti and you get a wonderful chicken flavor that soaks right into the pasta.
Add 2 cans of cream of mushroom (or any cream soup you happen to have around), some chopped onion, peppers and shredded cheese on top.
Bake in a preheated 400’C oven with the lid on for 25 minutes or so and then 10 minutes with the lid off and the broiler on.
I guess the trick to this is to not make the chicken the star of the meal, just a side-kick. It’s cost effective, it saves loads of time and it’s easy. Love our deli chicken meal stretcher!
I recently discovered that using cruise control can save a lot of money in gas! I’ve started using it whenever possible. I live rural, with a lot of highway driving, so it’s very easy to implement and it has saved us in fuel consumption. It’s hard to say how much this can save a person, depending on how often you use it, and the make/model of your vehicle, use of air conditioning etc…. This CNN article states that there is an average fuel savings of 7% while using cruise control: http://money.cnn.com/2007/05/09/pf/gas_myths/
This frugal tip was brought to you by Leah who submitted her tip for the Best Frugal Tip giveaway. The contest is still accepting entries through the end of July 12, 2013.
