Pizza. So many ways to enjoy it. Homemade, frozen or delivery. Cheese, Hawaiian or meat lovers. If you love pizza as much as we do, you’ll want to read on for some tips to help you save on delivery pizza if you’re trying to stick to a budget. Actually, these tips can apply to any take-out restaurant!
Get Social
Find your favourite pizza delivery places on Facebook and Twitter. Follow them for updates on specials they will have throughout the year. Quite often, they’ll offer subscriber-only deals that aren’t available anywhere else but on Facebook or Twitter.
Sign up for Emails
This is most likely my favourite way to save on pizza! Head over to the websites of each pizza delivery place that you enjoy and sign up for their email newsletters. Often times, you’ll get an email within a couple of days of signing up with a great offer. Or you’ll receive regular updates on specials they’re running.
Junk Mail can be Good
Don’t disregard those junk mail flyers! Before you recycle them, take a look to see if there are any coupons or specials that interest you. We’ve been “sucked in” a few times by offers we couldn’t refuse!
Look for Coupon Codes
If you order pizza online, be sure to do a search for a coupon code. Search “pizza” on Retail Me Not. Or, as I mentioned above, take a look at the recent posts on Facebook or Twitter for any coupon codes that may be available.
Peruse Daily Deal Sites
Following daily deal sites like Goupon, WagJag or Living Social may be a great way to snag a discounted gift card to a local pizza delivery place. Once again, sign up for the emails sent out by daily deal sites if you don’t want to miss a great deal!
Look for Deals on the actual Website
Perhaps obvious, but this tip is worth noting! Make sure to look for deals on the actual pizza delivery website. As an example, Pizza Hut has a Deals tab that features an offer for a medium 3 topping pizza for only $10. Then, right on the homepage, Pizza Pizza has a couple of combo deals that sound tasty.
I’m not sure about you, but I really want some pizza right now!
How do you save on pizza delivery? Do you prefer delivery, homemade or frozen pizza?
Here are Lorraine’s suggestions for healthy meals in a hurry:
1) Make homemade vegetable soup with a beef bone for the broth and then add bags of frozen vegetables such as carrots, green peas, yellow and green beans, broccoli and cauliflower and cut up some onion, cabbage and celery. Make a big batch and freeze portions for later use. (In the fall, I freeze vegetables such as leek, zucchini, celery, peppers, shallots, broccoli, cauliflower) Add a can of crushed tomatoes with either quinoa, brown rice, wild rice, pasta and different types of legumes and there you have it, a meal in a bowl that is quick to heat up and very healthy. You can also make cream soups with almond beverage and chicken broth using a variety of frozen vegetables and once cooked, blend the mixture together for another quick meal.
2) Make casseroles such as chili’s, cabbage rolls, macaroni, tomatoes and cheese, Italian spaghetti sauce. You can buy frozen vegetables that are identified for spaghetti sauces (Arctic Gardens brand). You can also use frozen vegetables to prepare a stir fry with the left-over meat that you cooked in the slow cooker.
3) Buy a slow cooker and start a roast of beef or pork or chicken before leaving for work. You can add a couple of potatoes, carrots, rutabaga in the pot and once you arrive home, the meal is ready. Make enough to freeze for other future meals.
4) For desserts, eat fresh or frozen fruit with plain yogurt and a bit of maple syrup or honey. Make batches of healthy muffins.
5) For breakfasts, boil eggs while you are getting ready and have a muffin and a piece of fruit. Make smoothies with field berries, bananas, pineapple, plain yogurt and vanilla almond or rice beverage.
6) Grab a bag of spring mix vegetables, wash these thoroughly and add nuts, boiled eggs, left-over chicken or ham and have this with a whole grain bun. Quick, easy and healthy.
7) Some nights when we are tired, we make oatmeal with fresh fruit and whole grain toast and sip on a great cup of green tea.
8) We buy bagged coleslaw, broccoli slaw, shredded carrots and add those to the spring mix for a quick and healthy salad. We will sometimes add kidney beans or chick peas to our salad and grab a bagel, bun or muffin to eat with the salad.
Note: you can boil eggs ahead of time and keep them refrigerated or pickle them with vinegar. We always keep cheese on hand for a quick snack. We also buy vegetable juice and sip on it for extra vegetables when we don’t have time to cook.
We typically eat five to eight servings of vegetables and fruit per day; drink plenty of water and use lemon juice from real lemons and olive oil or balsamic vinegar in our salads instead of the prepared salad dressings.
I hope that these suggestions will help in making life simpler and healthier. It is also a frugal way to stretch the food budget by using for instance a roast one night and making use of the remaining meat in either a salad or a stew or stir fry. We also have soup, salad and sandwiches such as ham, lettuce and tomato, grilled cheese, chicken salad sandwiches, hummus, cucumber, lettuce and tomato sandwiches, roast beef sandwiches with chutney, all natural ham or wieners on occasion or fried egg sandwich with sweet onion (fry the egg in oils such as canola, grapeseed oil, sunflower oil, almond oil or any other first cold pressed oil that is unsaturated and healthy.
Being generous doesn't have to break the bank. If you're on a tight budget, there are still some great ways to give to individuals or organizations. Here are some creative ways to give on a budget:
Purge for a cause
When you're purging your home of excess stuff, consider donating it to a local second hand store that uses the profits to give back to the community or an organization that you would love to support. We recently donated one of our couches to Gleaners who will then use the profits to help support their food and medical aid operations.
Give your time
Time is one thing most of us can find (at least a little bit of spare time) in our lives. Maybe you know of a family that is struggling. If they'll have it, spend a couple of hours cleaning their home so they have one less thing to worry about. Often the gift of time is more appreciated than monetary gifts.
Gather your friends
Don't have $100 to donate to that cause you'd love to support? Why not donate $10 then round up nine of your friends to donate $10 as well?
Donate stockpile items
I think I can safely assume that if you're a regular reader at Simply Frugal, you most likely have a stockpile that you've been building with coupons. Food banks and women's/men's shelters will gladly take your excess food and toiletries! Normally I only recommend taking advantage of the coupon deals that you will personally use (so you don't go over budget), but you may want to consider purchasing items with coupons with the intent of donating them. For example, you may not have any pets, but you know your local animal shelter would love the pet food you got for pennies using coupons.
Say Yes at the checkout
I'm sure you've run into this before. The cashier is scanning your groceries, then asks if you'd like to donate $1 to such and such charity. Next time you're asked, say yes! (If you feel as though you can support that particular charity.) You could make a point of doing so once a month. Local charities or fundraisers often place donation jars at the check out. Throw in your spare change, if may only be $0.50, but all that spare change can really add up.
What are your favorite ways to give on a limited budget?
So, you're running low on funds in your grocery budget for the month, but you still have a few meals that need to be made. You might be thinking that cooking a delicious meal on a budget might not be possible but, affordable family feasts are possible!
Here are 5 delicious budget friendly meals to help!
Roasted Chicken and Root Vegetables - While purchasing a whole chicken may be more costly upfront, the amount of meals you can get from one chicken can really help stretch your budget. The first night, you can enjoy slices of roasted chicken and delicious vegetables. The next night you could turn leftovers into a chicken pot pie. Finally, use the bones to create a tasty soup!
Refried Bean Quesadillas - Recommended by a reader over at the Simply Frugal Facebook page as a budget friendly meal, I found this tasty looking Refried Bean Quesadilla recipe that I'd love to try! Instead of using a whole bunch of cheese, which can get expensive, you can fill your quesadillas with beans! To make this meal even more budget friendly, here's a recipe for Homemade Refried Beans in the slow cooker!
Black Bean & Salsa Burritos - This is one of my personal made up recipes, but I happen to think it's a great budget saver and it's packed with protein!
Pulled Pork - This was another meal recommended by a Simply Frugal Facebook reader. She likes to buy cheap pork cuts when they go on sale for $1/lb. She roasts it then freezes it in bags in meal sized portions. The meals she enjoys creating with the pork are nachos and salad rolls with corn bread and coleslaw.
Pasta with White Bean Sauce - Pasta is cheap, especially if you stockpile it with coupons! I can't wait to try this recipe because not only does it sounds tasty, it also uses beans for protein instead of meat. Love that.
What are your favourite Budget Friendly Meals that come in handy when your grocery budget is running low?
Stephanie is looking for some advice! Can you help her out?
I’m looking for tips or advice please! Two jobs, shift work for both. I can’t seem to plan meals or find time to cook them, so I’m always eating in the go. I like to eat healthy, and try as much as I can, but that’s hard when you generally get 2 days off a month.
Building a cloth diaper stash can cost you a pretty penny, which makes it hard to consider using them in the first place. However, it is possible to build a great diaper collection on a budget! Here are some tips I learned while building our stash, that will help you to save big:
Buy used
Quite often, you’ll find someone selling their cloth diaper collection on sites like Kijiji and Craigslist. This is a great way to acquire an entire collection at a fraction of the cost.
Check those daily deal sites
I wanted to try a variety of different cloth diapers to see if I had any preference so I took advantage of a few deals on daily deal sites. I scored some AMP’s and a Baby Kicks diaper that I love. You might want to consider signing up for the email lists of sites like BabySteals and Sweet Baby Dealz so you know when cloth diapers are up for grabs!
Make your own
CheekyDiapers.com has a long list of great tutorials about making your own cloth diapers! Even if you have limited sewing skills, it could be quite easy to create your own stash! Sewing your own diapers seems to be becoming quite popular too, as I’ve noticed my local fabric store carries quite a good selection of cloth diaper fabrics.
Don’t buy name brands
If you want to save a bundle, stay away from the major brands such as Fuzzibunz, AMP, and bumGenius. The majority of my stash is made up of Kawaii diapers. Individually, Kawaii diapers cost about $7, compared to $20 or more for the brand name diapers. I even saved a bit more by purchasing a package deal (12 diapers)
Tell your friends and family
Make sure to mention to your friends and family that you’re going to be cloth diapering. A friend of mine gave me a couple of bumGenius diapers because she realized that cloth diapering wasn’t for her. I also received a wonderful cloth diapering “kit” (a diaper, bum cream, laundry detergent and a waterproof tote) from a friend as a baby gift because she knew I was intending on going this route.
Use prefolds/covers instead of AIO’s or One Size diapers
By going with the prefold and waterproof cover system over the All-in-One’s, you’ll save yourself a ton of money. But, I really recommend doing some research beforehand to determine the method that will suit your lifestyle best. I personally, wanted diaper changes to be as simple as possible so I knew prefolds and covers were not going to be for me. Though, now that I’m a bit more “experienced” prefolds and covers are more appealing!
Are you a cloth diaper user? What are your money saving tips when it comes to building a cloth diaper stash?
