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Having Somewhere to Go in an Emergency

If you are ordered to evacuate your home it is extremely important that you do not delay but leave as quickly as possible. If possible, evacuate before the official order is made. Not only will a quick escape increase your chances of rescue and survival in an emergency, but it will often shorten your travel time. Families and individuals who wait until the last moment often experience traffic congestion that delays getting to the right destination. Having an emergency to go kit can help you just pick up and get to safety, but assuming that you are prepared with supplies, … Continue reading →

Frugal Challenges with Friends

Having a frugal challenge with online or offline friends can be a lot of fun and a great way to save money. You can cheer each other on, brag about your accomplishments and meet your goals together. Having a friendly community at hand really does make a different when it comes to being frugal Interested? Don’t have a community ready and available? Check out the Families.com forums, where there are plenty of new friends waiting to be part of a frugal challenge. Here are some frugal challenges that you can join or start. Pantry Challenge Cook only from your pantry … Continue reading →

How to Buy a Generator 3

A home generator can really help you out when you lose power in your home. It is a must for anyone who frequently loses power and can be out for hours or days at a time. A generator can restore critical services to your home, such as by providing heat, water, and electricity to medical equipment, as well as lights, and cold food storage. In previous posts, How to Buy a Generator and How to Buy a Generator 2, I talked about identifying your need. One of the things that can be confusing is figuring out exactly how much energy … Continue reading →

Frugal Pantry: Pasta

When you reach into that pantry to plan out dinner, you might want to consider pasta. Pasta can be a great source of a filling meal. And with pasta, there are so many inexpensive options. Shopping carefully, you can get 16 ounces of pasta for less than $1. Add a few inexpensive ingredients, or even a small amount of expensive ingredients, and you still have a meal to feed the entire family for less than $5. I enjoy trying new pasta dishes, especially when I can throw some things together using food that we already have around the house. Last … Continue reading →

More Creative Ideas for Stockpile Cooking

There are three great reasons for cooking from your stockpile. You may want or have to skip your shopping due to budgetary concerns, you may be moving soon and want to use up the food you have, or you may need to clear out the food that is close to expiring, to avoid waste. I have been concentrating on this third reason for getting creative with the pantry food, but I’ll forgive you if you have one of the other reasons to do it. This post is part of the Ideas for Cooking from Your Stockpile Series. Hopefully you have … Continue reading →

Getting Creative with Almost-Expired Food

Using what you have in your pantry is important when food prices have risen so much. Creating meals from your pantry can reduce your weekly food budget or allow you to skip a shopping trip or two. It also prevents food waste. Sometimes you are faced with just a few strange items to use up before they expire or go bad. This is where you have to get creative. I’ll offer you some tips, as well as links to a couple of recipes that will help you create real meals from a collection of end-date food. This post is part … Continue reading →

Meals to Make from Bread

Stretch out your food budget by not letting anything go to waste. When you are faced with dinner time and there is “nothing” to prepare, take a look into your pantry. There are so many things you can make with what may be available. Today let’s take a look at bread. You can usually find bread in most people’s kitchens, and it is great for turning into meals and side dishes. This post is part of the Ideas for Cooking from Your Stockpile series. Main Meals: Try these ideas to make bread, fresh or stale, into a main meal. The … Continue reading →

Ideas for Cooking from Your Stockpile

With food prices continuing to rise, stockpile cooking is a great way to stretch out that food budget and minimize food and money waste. Whenever money is tight, you should always start with what you already have. Having a robust pantry allows you to make many different meals, but what if you find your pantry slimming down? With less bargains available, I have been seeing some shrinkage in my pantry. That is why it is so important to get creative and use up what you have. Now, when I mention cooking from your stockpile, I really mean your pantry, your … Continue reading →

Stamp Out Hunger and Clean Your Pantry

Do you want to help others and clean out your pantry at the same time? Well tomorrow, May 10th is the perfect opportunity to do both. That is because the National Association of Letter Carriers is having its annual Stamp Out Hunger event. (Image from the National Association of Letter Carriers.) I found out about this event yesterday, when my oldest child brought home a flyer from school. In the flyer were all of the details of the event. Basically, you gather a bag full of non perishable food and place it by your mailbox (or on a front porch). … Continue reading →

Addressing the Rise in Prices

In an earlier article posted today: Food and Gas Price Report, I discussed the latest information from the U.S. Department of Labor about our rising cost of food, energy and other goods. Here, I will offer some strategies and ideas for addressing the rise in prices. Let’s first address the rising food prices. To combat these prices and continue to provide food to your family you can (be sure to check the links for more information): Find substitutes for more expensive items, such as using dry milk for baking or drinking, giving up organic milk, baking your own bread, consuming … Continue reading →