When it comes to meal planning I have only one goal in mind, keep the entire month of eating for our family of five under $400!
THE only objective and I easily make it work every single month.
Take a look for yourself! I’m sharing with you exactly what our family will be eating this month in our monthly meal plan and also giving you the exact penny amount we spent on groceries for the entire month!
Did you see my post a few days ago about me taking apart 20 pallets? That was a lot of work!
Luckily it paid off big time! Not only was I able to make six large raised planter beds but I have had a nice supply a beautiful wood to feed a few projects over the last year.
This easy project I am going to be sharing today has been something I have had in my mind for a while now and decided to put into action a few weeks ago!
When decorating my home I am finding that I love the look of distressed wood. I also love using family photos to add a little love. Cheesy but true! Put the two ideas together and here you have my new priceless pallet picture holder.
There is some truth to the rumor that eating healthy can be so expensive. The truth comes when you don’t take a few minutes to search out the sales and coupons.
Or maybe you just don’t know the right places to look…
As I was wondering around the dollar store in search of some last minute party supplies (I throw awesome parties on only a $50 budget!), I started to notice that there were quiet a few options when it comes healthy snacks at the dollar store!
When you find a recipe that is quick, easy, delicious, and healthy… You make it a staple in your monthly meal planning rotation!
It’s a pretty cool story of where I got the original recipe for this pad thai meal.
How much money do you think meal planning could save your family each month? If you have no idea, use my example of a gauge.
After our family started meal planning, we were able to lower our food spending by over $300 a month. BUT we were already living pretty frugally! We didn’t eat out that much and we didn’t buy extravagant ingredients to cook at home. Also, we have never drank alcohol or coffee.
If your family falls into any of those habits, think of how much MORE money you could be savings. Even if you save a minimum of $300 each month, that will save you $3,600 a year! That is huge!
You know what was the one thing I always wished someone would say to me as I was trying to decipher the personal finance world? As we were trying to figure out how to get our family budget under control so we could get out of debt and work towards buying our first home!
“Come on in and take a look at our bank account!” Don’t you think that would be nice?
I always felt like if I could see the real numbers of a family in similar situations, it would be super helpful in setting our own family budget.
Completely blank sits a white wall in my kitchen, just begging for a bulletin board.
I first thought, “Cool, I’ll just go buy a piece of cork board and put fabric over it, call it good.” Well, turns out cork board is not that cheap.
Plan B, keep my eyes open for an old bulletin board to refinish. Turns out, it didn’t take me long to find one at a local thrift store.
Best part, I bought it for only $2! After purchasing the board, fabric, and tacks, I spent total about $8. Not bad at all for a completely custom bulletin board!
The dream of being able to paint the walls whichever color I want. Heck, what about the dream of being able to knock over just about any wall I desire!
Hanging up beautiful mirrors without the fear of loosing money from my rental deposit.
The dream of buying our first home is getting a little closer!
Isn’t it such a disappointment when your budget holds you back from doing fun things with your friends and family? Have you ever hesitated inviting your friends or family to stay at your house because there wasn’t any room in your budget to feed the extra mouths?
Well, there really isn’t any reason that this should happen! After you read these five tips for feeding friends frugally you won’t ever pause again when inviting guests over!
