<< Back to all Blogs
Login or Create your own free blog
Layout:
Home > Little things make a big difference

Little things make a big difference

April 15th, 2006 at 04:06 am

I was thinking about little things that can really affect the monthly budget, and I came up with a few to watch out for. Beverages: the more popular or healthier it is, the more expensive it probably is, too. if you drink sports drinks, get a giant vat of gatorade from BJs and mix it yourself. If you drink water, buy a filtered pitcher and a thermos and take your own instead of spending the money on it from the vending machine or cafe...it's only water...

Snacks: try the same BJs trick of getting a big box of treats instead of buying one bag of chips each day from the machine or snack bar. Or better yet, get a bunch of bananas.

Parking: see if you can find a cheaper lot or deck that is maybe a few blocks away and walk the rest of the way. My parking is free, but not everyone's is.

Entertainment: get a library card. As long as you do not keep the books past the due date, free books beat netflix monthly fee or blockbuster, and most libraries offer movies if you absolutely have no imagination or can not read...
(I have to admit that I like movies a lot, but my brother is a platinum card carrying member of the Columbia House DVD club, so I just borrow from him.)

Food: is important because it is proably second only to your mortgage in monthly expense, unless you overbought your vehicle or already eat on the cheap, but cut the food down. I mean literally cut the food, like water it down. Let me give you an example, I love tacos, so I prefer to have them often. By adding a can of tomatoes and a can of refried beans, I can make double the tacos without doubling the amount of meat required. This leaves leftovers for my lunch, and sometimes more without making the cost of the dinner go up much. We have rice and pasta a lot and use a variety of cheap sauces to flavor them frugally.

Posted in Back in the day, we called these Scams or 'ideas' | 4 Comments »

4 Responses to “Little things make a big difference”

  1. carol Says:
    April 15th, 2006 at 05:39 am 1145079551
    1145079551

    You have some very good pointers there. Thanks

  2. jodi_m Says:
    April 22nd, 2006 at 01:39 am 1145669986
    1145669986

    Another trick to "stretch" meat - TVP (texturized vegetable protein, I think). I tried it once but DH would not eat anything if he saw me use it because he's a big baby Smile But if I remember correctly, it comes dried. You add water to it, then mix it in with ground beef for tacos, chili, etc. I used it in highly seasoned dishes and you cannot tell the difference. Maybe I'll go grab another bag and hide it so DH doesn't know...

  3. PrincessPerky Says:
    April 22nd, 2006 at 04:43 pm 1145724215
    1145724215

    Taco seasonaing hides everything! (even squash!)

  4. Champion Cheapskate Says:
    April 26th, 2006 at 09:21 pm 1146086495
    1146086495

    Experiment. Try the wide range of fresh fruit, vegetables and food available. Plant your own too. Try using a faucet-based filter for filtered water. You may save money.

Leave a Reply

(Note: If you were logged in, we could automatically fill in these fields for you.)
*
Will not be published.
   

* Please spell out the number 4.  [ Why? ]

vB Code: You can use these tags: [b] [i] [u] [url] [email]