Savings and Goals Journal #1

I’ve decided to start sharing the ways we saved money at our house. I’m going to try to do a weekly post. Here are the ways we saved lately, along with things I plan to accomplish soon!

In the Kitchen

I’ve always planned my dinner menus around what meat we are having. So, for example, I’ll start with chicken, decide how I’ll prepare it, and then come up with a couple of side dishes, like a vegetable and rice, to go with it.

However, I’m still trying to find more wiggle room in our grocery budget, so I talked with my family about trying out one meatless meal each week. This week I tried a black bean soup recipe. Everyone liked it and it made enough for two meals and a lunch!

Meat is usually the expensive part of a meal, so cutting down how much meat we use should result in some savings.

I’ve also been wanting to make more DIY mixes. They are so handy to have, but lately I’ve gotten out of the habit of making them. I made a batch of homemade baking mix and then used it to make oven-fried chicken using chicken leg quarters bought on sale. I use the recipe as a base and then add whatever additional spices I think will be good.

Next week, I’ll be trying out some of the DIY mixes I’ve pinned on Pinterest, and finding another meatless meal.

In the Garden

I’m excited that the weather is warming up and I can spend afternoons working outside. I’ve done lots of tidying up around the property.

I also spent some time organizing in the greenhouse. I started tomato and pepper seeds a while back and they are doing pretty well. The chile pepper seeds are difficult to germinate, but I have around 30 chile plants so far. I have enough seeds left from last year that I don’t need to buy any.

Garden seeds are often good for more than one season when stored properly. I’m going to do some nerdy garden math and see how much I save by growing my own plants.

Home and Family

The quest to be organized continues. I go around the house finding things we don’t need and either toss or donate them. This is fairly easy with two grandbabies who are growing so fast! Grampy and I have both lost weight and so we let go of some of our larger clothing that doesn’t fit well anymore. My daughter gave me some t-shirts she no longer wanted.

Next week, I plan to go through the front part of my storage shed. I am a collector of storage containers. I have stacks of empty baskets and totes. Some of them will be leaving. I will also be relocating some things I don’t use often to the loft of the shed. Sheds are a must when living in a small home!

We are given many clothes for the grandbabies from friends. There isn’t room to store the larger-sized clothing in the house. But I’d like to have an organized system on the shelves in the shed so we know what we have in each size and where it is so that we don’t purchase things we already have.

I think being organized is a great way to help save money. Things don’t get wasted, you know what you have and where it is. Being organized saves time. If my stuff is organized, I am not wasting time looking for something. Then I can use that time for something else.

How have you saved money lately? Share in the comments!