Just a teensy-weensy, itty bitty, little frugal living discovery

So this has been an extremely rough week.  After several unexpected expenses (part of life, duh, i know), the final one tipped us over the edge.  Our a/c stopped working & it's August in Kansas City.  That means we had to fix it.  Thankfully, it wasn't a huge expense this time.  ((although we have been warned that our 30-40 year old furnace, ahem, needs replaced.))  However, the one thing plus the one thing plus the one thing plus the one thing... well, they added up.  And that equals us being more broke than usual.  I seriously had $20 to get us through more than a week for groceries and we are a family of 7.  ((yesterday I found a $10 buried in my purse!  yay!  but that's just a side note)) 

So this week was ALL about stretching the last of what's in my freezer and cabinets.  Lots of lessons learned here.  Number 1 is that I will not let my staples run this low again.  I was already short on some things that I normally have around.  So not good timing.  (is it ever good timing to be broke?)  It's a very scary feeling when you are a mommy to wonder how to stretch that last bit of milk, fruit, veggies.    Yesterday, my daughter cheerfully said "hey, we are like the family in Mr. Popper's Penguins!" (the book, not the movie) when I said we were having beans and rice.  Mr. Popper had a seasonal job.  Therefore, in the off- months, they had to eat a LOT of rice and beans.  It made me happy to hear her perspective on it.  And the thing is, at least we KNOW we have a paycheck coming.  I figure there are plenty of families in the world who do not know where their next meal is coming from.  So our minimal suffering was just that:  minimal.   (try telling that to a 6 year old who wants more milk though!)

Here's the teensy-weensy, itty bitty, little frugal living discovery that I made this week though.  Miniature chocolate chips.  Ok, does that sound like a necessity when you are broke?  Not really.  However, one thing I have found is that when I am trying to stretch that last bit of grocery money, I tend to bake more often for the kids.  (ok, for me too).  The good news is that I had these wonderful little gems in my cabinet already.  Here's what I found.  These little things go SOOOOO much further than normal chocolate chips!  I have now baked 4 things with a normal sized bag and there are STILL some left.  I don't think I will buy regular sized chocolate chips ever again. 

This may not seem like the most important frugal living tip in the world.  It's not.  I admit that.  I have posted about some of my other frugal tips in the past.  Maybe more important ones like crockpot chickens, dried beans, rice.    However, when you are raising a family on one modest income, you try to get creative.  You try to cut corners where you can.  Yet you still need treats!  Don't you?  Well, I do.  And my kids do.    And I have been thrilled that I could bake for them & give them some goodies this week.  Payday is in 2 short days & then we will get to live it up with lots of fruit & veggies again! In the meanwhile, we'll eat some jello with grapes & marshmallows.  And quite possibly a smore with graham crackers, marshmallows, and mini-chocolate chips.  Yum. 

More of Frugal Living

I realized after my rambling post yesterday that tips on living more frugally may be better in small bites. So I am going to try to post more frequently (no REALLY) with a few tips at a time.
SALTINES!!!!! What a wonderful inexpensive snack!!! Ok, I will be honest, I love the GOOD, pricey, fancy crackers... There are so many that I love, my favorites being those rice crackers. Yum. (which you CAN buy a little more cheaply at Trader Joe's). However, when feeding a family of 7, those do not stretch very far. If I buy the generic brand or aldi brand of saltines, I am looking at approximately $1. My kids often will have peanut butter on them (another staple) or I will have Nutella on them (not exactly on my budget-friendly budget items... but I am weak, what can I say). My 1 year old will eat them plain. I even used them in soup last week! Ok, that may not sound like a big deal, however, my family is spoiled. I often make homemade bread with soup. Or if it is a southwestern or Mexican type soup, we will have tortilla chips with it. Growing up, soup meant SALTINES! So I made my kiddos crush some up & put them in their soup. It was a broccoli cheese soup & it was quite tasty. And the saltines S-T-R-E-T-C-H-E-D the soup a little further. Who knew? (my mother knew, that's who!).
It's funny, when I am doing these frugal things, I see so much of what my mom did when I was growing up. I had no idea she was so good at stretching that grocery budget. Now she is my hero!

Learning to be more Frugal

So we are on an extremely tight budget. I have never been very good at planning menus, sticking to a grocery shopping list, etc. However, I am being forced to be better about it. I find it kind of a fun challenge at times. Last week, I spent $50 on groceries for a family of 7, granted, we had some existing food in the pantry. I thought I would write about some of the things I am learning on my journey to be more frugal.
#1 there are certain things that you should always have on hand.... Flour, sugar, brown sugar, oils/fats/butter, herbs & spices, bouillion cubes... These will go a long way to making a dreary week better.... When I tell the kids, "we are out of fruit until Thursday" they are bummer, but I make them feel better by baking some cookies. No, that isn't as healthy as fruit. However, when you run out of money, there is only so much you can buy. I try to make sure my kdis have at least 1 fruit a day when we are "broke"... when we feel a little more like we are rolling in the dough, they have much more. We LOVE fruit & veggies in our house.
#2 there are more things you should always have in the house: carrots.... these are cheap & a healthy snack. I have 2 kids who love them. 2 kids who don't. 1 who is too little. When we run out of fruit, my 2 who love them are thrilled because my rule on carrots is: you can ALWAYS have a carrot.... "mom, can I have a snack?" me "no, it's bedtime" kid: "how about a carrot?" me"um, ok"...
#3 and more: Onions! you know, those value bags of onions & preferably some dried onion flakes too. The thing about onions, even for folks who do not like onions, they make food taste GREAT! So let's look at something I made last week 1 or 2 days before payday when we were just about out of everything.... I made some soup. I used bouillion cubes (which I prefer to buy the stock/broth, but I was out...), ONION, the tail end of a jar of spagetti sauce, a can or two of tomato sause, some herbs... hmmmm... can't remember, i think i put in just a teeny bit of white wine that I had left (more on wine in a minute). Then I added what veggies we had left & some pasta to it. It was really, really tasty@@@@@ onions helped. and helped a lot of meals last week.
#4: wine.... ok, so when you are on a tight budget, spendign money on things like wine & beer seem like a waste. For that reason, I am SO thankful for Trader Joe's being 5 minutes from my house. Trader Joe's sells wine that is ACTUALLY GOOD that costs $2.99 per bottle... for that, i can buy some to drink AND cook with.... This is coming from someone who knows good wine... No, this will not compare with Terrabianca Campaccio Reserve (my favorite wine of all time).... but it IS drinkable even to the wine snobs out there. And honestly, adding a little wine to any sauce, soup, makes it taste just a little better.
#5: Beans... beans, beans, the musical fruit, the more you eat, the more you... ok, you all know that song right? well, beans are cheap. period. and if you take the time to make the dried beans, you never have to starve.... i admit, sometimes i am lazy and buy canned beans. but then when i make some dried, i kick myself when i see how much more you get for your money. you can do so much with beans & they are cheaper than meat.
#6 that brings me to meat/protein.... everyone things they have to have so much meat in their meals... we do NOT need that much meat people!!!! buy what is on sale. period.
#7: whole chickens.... something that my frugal journey has taught me is to buy a whole chicken either every week or every other. i can buy a whole chicken for approx $5. roast it in the crockpot & we have meat for 3-5 meals depending what I make with it.
ok, that's all I have time for right now... we are heading to a fun park day & I have no make up on. But I plan to post more about frugal living later. ciao!