Frugal Friday

 

Plato ~

 

"The greatest wealth is to live content with little." 

 

Dan and I have always tried to live a simple lifestyle.  We don't have fancy cars nor the latest gadgets.  We live on one income.  We don't get to go on fancy vacations, nor do we spend a lot of money on frivolous things.

 

However, the one area that is a weakness is going out to eat.  It seems to be the one spot that leaks the most.  And much of that is because I get lazy or tired or distracted. When I had the business, I would get so focused on sewing or crafting that I wouldn't even think about what we were going to eat.  Then dinner time would roll around and I would not feel like cooking, so we would order out.

 

I'm realizing how much money that wastes.  If we get McDonald's (terrible for us anyway) or pizza, it ends up costing about $35-$40 which is about 1/3 of my grocery budget.  Crazy!  So I truly have been working on patching up that giant sized leak, and spending much more time in the kitchen, making meals at home. 

I make everything from scratch so it is labor intensive, but since I'm no longer running a business, I have a lot more time on my hands.  And to be honest, we were spending a sizeable amount of money each month, going out.  So it's almost as if I'm still bringing money in because I'm just saving that amount each month by cooking at home.

It's been fun to get back into the cooking mode and I've been trying my hand at new things, as well as some old ones that I haven't made in a while.  I've made cheese, ice cream, granola, French fries, and all sorts of other items. 

I have a spread sheet where I enter in our expenses and income, and it's been inspiring to see that "eating out" line item shrinking.

On today's agenda is mozzarella cheese and mint chocolate chip ice cream. 

Fun and frugal!  I'm plugging up that hole and it feels good.