I do so many little things on a day to day basis, to try to save every little penny that I can, or to earn any little penny that I can. I have to, or else we run out of money by month’s end. Some people don’t have to, but they’d like to be able to give more to needy people (this is what we plan to do when we’re finally financially free). But until then, here’s one simple way that I save money, and you can do it too!
Skimp on the Meat
Some of my methods are extreme. This is one of them. At the risk of being called a tightwad, I will go ahead and say it anyway. We’ve struggled for a long time to make ends meet, and this tip right here is one that I tell everyone who is wondering how we did it. It’s extreme though. But the truth is, there were some weeks when I just couldn’t afford to go to the grocery store, or when I knew I couldn’t buy as much meat as I would have liked for some of my favorite recipes. And this is what I did. I skimped on the meat. It helped us during the tightest times. But if you’re looking for ways to save money, you can do it too.
For example, you can make ground beef and chicken recipes with ½ lb. instead of 1 lb. Most of the time, the recipes still taste just as good! I have several casseroles and pasta dishes that my husband doesn’t even realize has less meat in it than it used to. A simple tip, I know, but still a great way to save a little bit of money.
By being such a penny-pincher, and doing things such as this, I believe it has been a major reason why we’ve been able to homeschool on such a small income all these years. The money I’ve saved has helped us to pay off debt, not use any credit cards, and to live within our means so that I can stay at home with my children.
This series of posts was originally published in 2010, and I am just recently editing and updating them, just for the fun of it.
