Leftover Recipes and Money Saving Budget Ideas » Frugal Budget Ideas

Simple Planning Tips, Leftover Recipes and Frugal Ideas can Save You Hundreds of Dollars per Month

tom — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 10:16:01 +0000

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Combine a little planning with some flexibility, leftover recipes, and new technology, and you could save hundreds on your monthly food bill — without compromising quality. This article discusses many budgeting tips, meal planning ideas, leftover recipes, and frugal shopping to maximize your savings. With the state of the economy today, we need to save everywhere we can!

Plan weekly menus with leftovers in mind

Plan at least four to five dinners for the week, based on what’s on sale in your store circular (most are available online). If possible, double those recipes and freeze the second for a complete leftover meal. If not, maybe plan some 2-meals-in-one dinners, doubling up on the key meal ingredient only. Use that leftover chicken, beef, turkey, or whatever it may be to follow up the next day with a meal using some of our leftover chicken recipes, leftover beef recipes, leftover turkey recipes, or other leftover recipes that you already have. This “planning” for leftovers can go a long way when trying to save money and time.

Be brand flexible

Use your store’s loyalty card religiously, and be willing to buy different brands in order to maximize the money saved.

Track prices and save

While your store circular obviously tells you what’s on sale, it doesn’t reveal whether the price is a true bargain. Use a price-tracking website to assist you with this one. The two largest are http://www.thecouponmom.com, which is free but requires registration; and http://www.thegrocerygame.com, which charges a fee of $10 every eight weeks for a list of deals from one store ($5 for each additional store).

These sites track thousands of items for months at a time, and publish weekly lists by state and store showing the best deals. They also let you know if a coupon is available for a particular item by listing the circular name — such as “Smart Source” — and its date.

Coupons equal money

To maximize your discount, subscribe to the your local Sunday paper, pull out the coupon circulars each week, write the date on them and save them in a drawer or a flexible file. Throughout the week keep track of the items you need to add to your grocery list. When you’re ready to shop, go to the grocery website, click next to the items you want, print the list, grab your dated circular from your file, clip the relevant coupon and go.

For those coupon-resistant types, the only time you have to cut out a coupon is when you actually save a bunch of money with it. Quite often your loyalty card will account for the coupon anyway.

If you’re a coupon queen or king and you really want those savings to add up, definitely visit coupon sites such as http://www.thecouponclippers.com, http://www.coolsavings.com or http://www.coupons.com.

More ideas to save money

The key to saving money is buy big items first, on sale (kind of an extension to “Plan weekly meals with leftovers in mind” from above). Once or twice a month stock up on meat or poultry on sale and freeze it. Then plan four or five days worth of meals from seasonal recipes or “2-meals-in-one” leftover recipes, using vegetables and fruits from nearby farmers’ markets. (You can search for a farmers’ market in your area on the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s website.) Better yet, grow your own produce.

There is a dramatic price difference between the farmers’ market and the grocery store, where people buy stuff in packages. For example, a bag of chopped lettuce might cost $3 to $4 a package at the grocery store, as opposed to 50 cents a head at farmer’s market.

Instead of buying deli meat at $6.99 a pound, cook a whole chicken for less than a quarter of the price, and use it for sandwiches or other “leftover” meals throughout the week.

Also stock up on grains and beans in the bulk bins for as little as 99 cents a pound. To save money, stay away from processed foods and go for the rice and beans.

Budgeting Tips and Tricks

tom — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 09:14:57 +0000

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Ask any financial planner and you will be told that household budgeting is of prime importance for establishing any modicum of financial security.

Here are a few budgeting tips that have been developed by financial experts in order to help people establish a better sense of financial security.

Changing the way you think about budgeting is the single most effective of all budgeting tips you are likely to learn. Think of your budget as a kind of spending plan. Most people think that budgets are just another term for restraining your expenditures. However, if you make a spending plan it helps you focus more on better ways of spending your money and creating a proper balance between your wants and your needs.
Another budgeting tip, which is really common-sense, is that if you really intend saving money, you have to make sure that your expenditure is far less than then your income. This is the basis of establishing any kind of financial security. In order to make a smart spending plan it is essential that you know how what your total income is as well as your total outgoings.
Creating a solid financial plan plays a big role in helping you save money and in achieving all your long-term financial goals. If your goal is to maintain a monthly savings of at least $300, but the excess cash you have adds up to only $200 per month, you will have to compromise on either your financial goals or your expenditure. This forces you to take a good look at your priorities.
Take care of your priorities first. Whatever budgeting approach you may wish to take, it is absolutely vital that you first pay off all essential bills before spending on non-essential luxuries.
Many people have no clue as to what they spend their money on. If your goal is to save money, you need to know what your money is being spent on. Start keeping financial records and writing down all your big, as well as your small expenses for a couple of months. This will give you an indication of where you are spending money unnecessarily and will also help you identify the areas where you could save.
Start by making temporary financial plans. Long-term financial goals are just that- long-term and you could easily get disheartened and give up. Achieving short-term goals and then moving them upwards would give you a sense of accomplishment and keep you motivated.
Get your housing and car loan as well as your mortgages deducted automatically every month from any checking account that you have. This way you know it is being paid and you cannot be tempted to spend it on other non-essentials.
Take a look at your spending plan periodically and see if you have been able to meet your goals so far. You may need to modify or make revisions in your spending plans if there has been any change in circumstances.

Getting professional advice from expert financial planners will help you manage your finances even better.

Budget Friendly Ideas for Halloween

tom — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 01:30:43 +0000

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Halloween is right around the corner and I wanted to start out our budget ideas page with some inexpensive crafts, recipes, etc. that are great for Halloween. And that’s exactly why we put this guide together for you.

Halloween is such a great Holiday for kids. When else do they get to dress up in fun costumes, pretend to be a princess or a superhero and then walk around town collecting candy?

Halloween Was Made For Kids!

We hope you and your kids will enjoy the crafts, recipes, games and decorating ideas we’ve included! Have a great Halloween!

Halloween Crafts

“Is it time to go trick-or-treating yet?”

Waiting for sunset on October 31st can be tough for a child. Make the wait easier (and more fun) by making some Halloween crafts together. Of course you can start making these crafts a few weeks earlier and use them to decorate the house for Halloween.

Ghost Hand Puppet

Kids love playing with puppets and there’s hardly an easier puppet to make than a ghost. All you need is a white paper towel, or a white handkerchief, a rubber band and a black marker.

Ask your child to spread out her thumb and pinky, but keep the 3 other fingers together. Drape the paper towel over her hand and secure the rubber band around the three fingers. This will be the ghost’s head; the thumb and pinkie form the arms. Draw eyes and a mouth on the paper towel and the little ghost puppet is finished.

Spider Webs

What would Halloween be without spiders and spider webs? Make these cute little spider webs with the kids and hang them in the window. All you need are 3 craft or clean Popsicle sticks and some white or black yarn.

Take two of the craft sticks and glue them together to form a cross. Glue the 3rd one right in the middle, forming a star shape. Tie one end of the yarn around one of the craft sticks in the center. Start weaving it over one craft stick and under the other. Keep going around, forming your spider web. Make sure you leave at least 1/4th inch of the craft sticks sticking out and secure the loose end by tying it to one of the craft sticks. Glue a small plastic spider in the center and hang your spider web up.

Witch Broom Pencil

Witch broom pencils make a cute Halloween gift that doesn’t involve candy. You can turn any pencil into a witch’s broom with a handful of household items. All you need is a regular pencil, some small twigs out of the yard, some string and a little glue.

Break the twigs into equal lengths pieces and line them up around the un-sharpened end of a pencil. Make it look like an old fashioned broom. Secure the wigs with string, and then apply a thick layer of glue to keep it all in place.

Cauldron Candy Dish

To make this cute cauldron candy dish, start with an empty round plastic container (like a cool-whip container). Clean it, dry it, and then paint it black. Paint three small wooden balls black as well. After the paint is dry, glue the balls to the bottom of your plastic container. Add a handle made out of wire if you’d like and your candy dish cauldron is done. Just add some of your favorite Halloween candy.

Pumpkin Painting

Carving funny or scary faces into a pumpkin is a lot of fun, but it also gets quite messy and small kids can’t really do much since there’s a knife involved. Buy a few small pumpkins instead, or in addition to the big carving pumpkin. Use permanent pens or acrylic paint to draw funny faces on your mini-pumpkins.

Ghost Lollipops

Dress up the lollipops you are giving away for Halloween by wrapping a white tissue or small piece of fabric over them. Secure it with a piece of string or a rubber band. Take a black marker and draw eyes and a round mouth on the ghost’s face.

Halloween Recipes

Bloody Popcorn

• Popped Popcorn

• Melted Butter

• Red Food Coloring

Prepare your popcorn and melt your butter to go over the popcorn. Add some red food coloring to the melted butter. Pour the mixture over the popcorn and serve.

Bat Cookies

Make a batch of your favorite sugar cookie dough, or use a pack of refrigerated dough from your grocery store. Roll out the dough and cut out bat shapes. Use a bat-shaped cookie cutter, or cut them freehand.

Melt some dark chocolate and brush it on the bat cookies. Of course you could also dip one side of the cookie in the melted chocolate. Set the cookies on some wax paper until the chocolate has a chance to harden. After that they are ready to eat or store in an airtight container.

Pumpkin Pizza

Start with your favorite pizza dough or a ready-made crust. Top it with pizza sauce and your favorite toppings. Add a layer of cheddar cheese on top. Then use slices of green pepper to make the ridges of the pumpkin – you’ll arrange them in ( ) shapes around the pizza pan. Use pepperoni slices or red and yellow peppers cut to shape to form the pumpkin’s face. Bake as usual.

Halloween Games

Are you hosting a Halloween party for the kids this year? Here are some great Halloween games the kids will love playing.

Mummy Wrap

Grab a few rolls of toilet paper and match the kids up in pairs. Of course you could also have them choose partners. Ask each pair to pick, which one of them will be, the mummy and who will do the wrapping. Then – you guessed it – have one of the wrap the toilet paper around the other, creating a mummy.

You can either make it a contest of speed or one of creativity. For the first, the team that has a completely wrapped mummy first wins. For the second contest, the kids take as long as they need to and you get to play judge and pick the best looking mummy.

Musical Tombstones

Musical Tombstones works exactly like musical chairs. Turn your chairs into tombstones by covering the backrest of each chair with a paper grocery bag. Use a maker to draw RIP on it.

Set up one less chair than you have kids playing the game. Have them walk around the chairs while playing Halloween music. When you stop the music, each child will try to sit down on a chair. The child without a chair is out of the game. Remove one chair and repeat. Continue playing until only one child and one chair are let.

Build a Spider Web

All you need for this fun game is a ball of black yarn and a few kids. Have everyone stand around in a circle. Ask one child to hold one end of the string and then toss the ball to another kid. Each child holds on the string and then tosses it to someone else. Before you know it you’ll have a great spider web.

Halloween Decorations

Decorating the house for Halloween has always been one of our favorite family activities this time of the year. Here are simple ideas you and your kids can try.

Little Ghosts

Cut square pieces of white fabric. Make a ball out of batting, some old pantyhose or some tissue paper. Put it in the center of the fabric square and wrap the fabric around. Secure with a piece of string. This will be your little ghost. Use a black marker to draw the ghost’s mouth and eyes on. Thread some string or fishing line through a needle and run a stick through the top of your ghost’s head. Tie it off and use the string or fishing line to hang it up.

These little ghosts look cute hanging in bushes and trees outside, hanging in a window, or you can make a ghost mobile out of a few of them.

Paint the Windows

Get some window paint and let the kids decorate. Have them draw ghost and pumpkins and write “boo” on the windows. If actual paint sounds too messy, go to your local craft store and pick out a few sheets of Halloween window stickers and use them to decorate the windows. There are quite a few static stickers available now that you can use for years to come