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Frugal Food Findings

June 1st, 2010 at 03:23 pm

We all say we want to do it. But how badly should be the question. How badly do we want to save money?

We have some friends who mew about not having a lot of money, but they continue to eat out. I don’t mean a couple of times a week. I mean at least once a day. Sometimes they eat out twice. Some of our friends brag about saving money by doing fast food…yet they then complain about the cholesterol medicine they have to purchase. Guess they don't see the correlation.

Every so often I get on a kick and try to figure out how much a meal costs us at home. For example, last night we grilled out steaks, had loaded potatoes, fresh green beans, grilled tomatoes, herb biscuits, cottage cheese, deviled eggs, and fresh fruit salad. The steaks cost us about $8. I imagine with the rest of the ingredients, we spent less than $16 total. These were decent steaks too, not shoe leather variety. Then I think back a few months ago when we went out with some friends who had to go to a steak house and I bet we spent way over $50 for a meal. Plus, our driving to that place which wasn’t in our town so that was an added expense. What a big difference in the cost of the meals!

We don’t eat steaks very often so when we do, it’s usually for an occasion. Normally we eat lots of chicken. I cook at home quite a bit because it saves us money as well as I control what we eat. We do go out and I feel we can afford to because of the other ways I save money. But, we just don't go out to go out. It's something we savor and enjoy.

Eating a healthy diet saves money as well – I took two sick days this past year. One I was sick and the other was because I had to – they were removing the braces off my teeth and you go in the morning and then back in the afternoon. I have a lot of health issues so for me to only use two sick days is nothing short of remarkable. I do think eating a variety of fruits and vegetables, little red meat, and hardly any fried food made a difference. Dear husband walks 5 days a week and since the weather has gotten better, I’ve been walking too.

During the school year I plan our menus ahead and make lots of casseroles or use the Crockpot. Yes, I’m sure I could be doing lots of fun things over the weekend besides that, but I feel committed to making meals ahead. And to be honest, I don't mind. It's kind of a challenge to figure out what I can fix without doing the same thing over and over again. For about an hour or two, I can make 3-4 meals ahead so when I get home, can pop something in the oven and we can have supper at a decent hour.

I have tried to convince some of our friends we should take turns hosting each other for meals to save money. Or we could have a potluck. We have some friends who do that with their Bible study group and besides the good company, they all save money and get to try new things. Unfortunately our other friends don’t want to do cook at home – they would rather go out and then complain about lack of funds in their daily life.

I claim to be frugal and I am to a point. I guess the definition depends on how you look at it. I will not sacrifice good nutrition for the sake of saving money. We buy lots of fruits and vegetables. Sometimes we buy fruits out of season because we need the nutrients. I figure I save money by cooking at home to more than make up for the cost. Our suppers aren’t soup and a sandwich – my husband is old school and he wants a regular sit down dinner so we have it – a meat, a starch, a vegetable or two and some fruit and of course some bread. My herb rolls are a steal and easy to make – 1 cup flour, 2 teaspoons of baking powder,(or 1 cup of self rising flour if you have it), 2/3 cup milk, a tablespoon of mayonnaise, and then whatever herbs you have on hand. I change out the recipe depending on what I have. Last night’s was dill, garlic, and oregano. I’ve also put shredded cheese and garlic together and they are very similar to the ones you can get at a popular fish restaurant. Grease a muffin tin, bake at 400 until they start to brown, and you’ve got cheap, easy rolls.

So how badly do I want to save money – in the long run I do save money by cooking at home and feeling healthier. So, I guess I’ve answered my own question. How about you?

3 Responses to “Frugal Food Findings”

  1. MonkeyMama Says:
    1275403070

    I remember eating out all the time when young and childless - we saved some huge fraction of our income and it wasn't a big deal. BUT, when we had kids and wanted to be home with them, that was probably the easiest way to cut the most money from our budget - to primarily eat at home.

    Interestingly, my "stick thin" husband lost quite a few pounds with the changeover. (I was pregnant so was gaining weight as I should!) These days, with a little more means (we eat out a handful of times a month) I notice a distinct correlation between our "dining out budget" and my waistline. I know it's been an expensive month when I gain a pound. It doesn't matter what you eat - it all seems to be so much more fatty and high calorie in the restaurants.

    I'd argue that you save a lot more on long term health costs, cooking your own meals.

  2. NJDebbie Says:
    1275437522

    It's funny you mentioned that you sometimes try to figure out how much meals cost to prepare! I do that often and today's dinner cost about $4 to preapare because I brought home some leftover corn tortillas cheese and lettuce from our cultural event at school. We had cheesy enchiladas with ground beef(I added beans to the it) and corn on the cob. My husband went to Shoprite and scored the most delicious white corn for .17 each. I know dinner was very good because my guys thanked me and said that it was delicious.

  3. rob62521 Says:
    1275448049

    Your dinner sounded delicious as well as frugal. Yum!

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