Conquering frugality to create a frugal home takes planning and effort. Having a food plan that involves stocking the pantry, filling the freezer and rotating the fridge saves money in the future.
Fridge Organization: Use What You Have
I don’t know how many times I have went to the store and bought more carrots, not realizing that we have carrots. It is so important to have an organized refrigerator to avoid buying items not needed. I’m slightly picky so I like to have shelves for certain items. For instance, the milk goes on the bottom shelf where there is more room. Water bottles and drinks also go on that shelf, when I straighten the fridge. Not everyone thinks the same in our home, but before I go to the store rummaging and organizing my fridge is on my to do list. An organized fridge is one way to conquer frugality.
First in, first out (FIFO) rule applies here. Hopefully you know what this rule is, but basically what is old gets moved to the front, and used. That way it makes room for what is new to go behind it and essentially nothing goes bad or to waste. At least that is the concept. I like to add in there to have an eat out of the fridge once a week. That means no grocery story until all of the leftovers, fruit, milk, and veggies are used. In our home this helps with our food waste.
Maximize Food Preservation Methods
Freezing meals is one way to preserve food. Now that freezer options are bigger, then we have the option to buy meat in bulk, make freezer meals for busy days, stock up to save on monthly grocery bills, and meal plan each week from what we have in our freezers’. My freeze is one of the best purchases that I have made. I did buy a bigger refrigerator to go along with our freezer just because of the food preservation. The freezer attached to my fridge is perfect for storing freezer meals. My actual freezer with no refrigerator is for our bulk meat purchase. We get a quarter of a cow each year, and a quarter of a pig. I purchase most of the meat that we use regularly with a few that would be good for cookouts and big dinners. We do not eat a lot of steak so that isn’t necessary for us to have a lot of this cut.
Freezer storage is very useful for saving money and running a frugal home. It is important to note that freezer storage has to be rotated. For me, that means I buy once a year. We eat through what we buy and sometimes sooner than a year. Buying meat in bulk is more money up front so that is something that I save for each month, then we make the purchase closer to fall. That way, if anything happens it is already cold outside!
One year in February we had a large bulk meat order and our freezer went out. That year we were so lucky that there was freezing temps the entire month of February so our meat stayed safely on our back porch in boxes. We did get a freezer before it warmed up, but that is one good reason to buy meat in bulk when the weather is cold. Food preservation helps you get one step closer to conquering frugality.
Food Storage Options for Saving Money
Bulk storage is one way to keep a good pantry stocked. While this is a good way to get a lot of food at once, properly storing dry goods is important.
Pantry food storage is great for conquering frugality, and as you meal plan add in a month of eat from the pantry. Try to clean it down to nothing and then bulk shop for everything at once a couple times a year. In addition to bulk food purchases and storage this cuts down on waste .
Conquering Frugality with Budget Friendly Meals
As always to run a frugal home and save money on food it is important to plan meals that are more frugal. Does this mean eating beans and rice all of the time? Only if you are saving hard for something important or paying off debt. Our budget friendly meals means that we are conscious about shopping for sales, saving and using what we have on hand, limiting waste and making use of leftovers.
Budget friendly meals doesn’t mean beans and rice all of the time, but maybe once every two or three weeks. I add in some cajun spices to mine for extra flavor and every loves it. But another great budget friendly meal is salad mixes, with some artichoke hearts and pepperocini. Special occasions’ or just as a switch we add in steak, fish or shrimp to go with some veggies. Big gourmet meals that involve a lot of work aren’t really budget friendly meals in our home. Utilizing these tips will help you start your frugal home journey.
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