I thought I would start posting some super simple Frugal Tips occasionally that you can read and glean from in a very short amount of time!
Let’s start with today’s tip:
Shop your home first. If you’re in need of something at home and you figure you’ll just pop into the store to grab it, try shopping your home first. Maybe it’s a baking ingredient. Is there a suitable replacement in your pantry already? I recently needed some breadcrumbs for meatballs I was making but didn’t have any on hand. I did, however, have oatmeal in my pantry that did the trick!
Or, maybe you want to freshen up your home decor for Spring. Rather than heading to the store, do you have something already that you could transform by getting a little crafty?
Do you shop your home? What are your favourite things to repurpose or products to use in place of certain ingredients?
image source.
This is also especially true for me when I’m needing a new piece of furniture / accent decoration and goes hand in hand with decluttering. You tend to “find” new homes for an old piece of furniture that completely rearranges things.
Very good suggestion. I recently did this. I was going to get groceries and decided to clean out my cupboards first to get an idea what I already had. Turns out I’m a closet lentil shopper! I’ve never eaten lentils yet I had every colour of the rainbow. I found a curried lentil stew recipe and it was awesome and so healthy! Even better, I ahd all the ingredients and didn’t need to go shopping after all. Saved me money 🙂
Awesome! Thanks for sharing! I too, found some lentils that I don’t remember buying…hmmm 🙂
1st love your blog! I check it everyday! 2nd, I do my best to save money with making homemade food whenever possible. Cooking from scratch can take longer, but if you have a few h/m mixes done up that can help. Ground beef seasoning (almost like hamburger helper, but better), spaghetti sauce mix, onion soup mix, taco seasoning, garlic/onion salt, garam masala, etc. are all mixes than can be mixed up to have on hand. I find it is a lot cheaper (if not certainly much healthier)! Even searching for quicker recipes can make h/m less time consuming. Our favourite choco cake is ‘wacky choco cake’ which can be mixed up and in the oven faster (and a whole lot cheaper) than a boxed mix. Homemade bread, however, is still in development. My dh likes rye bread not ww. None of the recipes I have tried so far taste like the store bakery. That might be because I like quick recipes (instant yeast, yes please!) and rye bread is probably one that requires quite a bit more time. I will have to keep trying. Any suggestions?