It’s Frugal Friday: A recap of how we frugal-ed our way through the week so that we have more money to put towards our financial goals. Our mission: Live WELL, On LESS Money.
What We Ate this Week:
- Homemade New England Clam Chowder, tossed salad: I made this soup as a surprise for my family. They LOVE it.
- Pesto Ranch Chicken Thighs & drum sticks in the slow cooker, rice, steamed broccoli – simple recipe that I found on Pinterest. Simply mix a small jar of pesto and one Hidden Valley ranch packet and pour off chicken in a slow cooker. Heat on low for 6-8 hours, or until the chicken is cooked through. Very tasty!
- Chicken, black bean, & corn enchiladas
- turkey burgers, french fries, homemade sugar-free applesauce, steamed veg
- Leftovers from the top 3 meals
- Turned 5 over-ripe bananas into Banana Walnut Baked Oatmeal, and one loaf of banana bread.
How We Saved this Week:
- All of the meat that I used this week for my menu was from the markdown section of the grocery store. Don’t let the thought of clearance food scare you, I’ve been buying meat this way for many years and have never had a problem. Read: 10 Smart Tips to Save Money on Meat
- After shaking off some laziness, I got back in the habit of using my favorite cash back grocery apps and was able to transfer $20 from ibotta to my checking account. Related reading: Earn Cash Back with my 4 favorite cash back grocery apps.
- My neighbor closed up her vegetable garden this week and brought me a big bag of green peppers. I chopped them up and put them in a freezer bag. When I make soups and casseroles this winter, I’ll just break off what I need.
This Week’s Financial Challenges:
- I bought one daughter’s Halloween costume at a pop-up Halloween store. Enough said!
- We received a letter from our health insurance company, Aetna, a few weeks ago that they are leaving the Affordable Care Act exchange at the end of this year. So we are now in the market for new health insurance. Being self employed, we are not involved with any group plan, so we have to do a lot of research ourselves to find “affordable to us” health insurance. I started researching some health cost sharing ministries this week to see if that avenue would make sense. If you have any experience with such a plan, please share it in the comments. I would like to hear some actual feedback.
Frugal Resources from around the Web:
- I recently discovered a blog, Passionate Penny Pincher. She has put together a FREE cookbook of 20 Crock Pot recipes if you sign up for her newsletter. I just downloaded my copy. The recipes look delicious and I can’t wait to add to my menu.
How did you live frugally this week? Please share your tips in the comments.
Here in my city in Canada allows self employed and small businesses who join the chamber (at a small yearly fee) to join their group benefits plan in order to be part if a larger group plan and hence lower rates! Not sure if that is an option in the US.
That makes so much sense, Maureen. Unfortunately, not available where I live.
We belong to Christian Healthcare Ministries. The monthly contribution is low (I think), and there are several options to choose from. I have not had to file a claim yet (it’s a $500 per incident minimum before you request funds), but I have dealt with their customer service several times with questions, and have been very pleased and touched by their caring — one rep even researched options for me that had nothing to do with the healthcare plan, and called me back with a ton of helpful information. There are several of these healthcare co-ops, but after doing lots of research, this was the best option for my family.
Thanks for your input, Susan. I appreciate it!