Saving — 2/80 — Beating Broke

How to Feed Your Family on a Low Budget

February 8, 2020 By MelissaB Leave a Comment

If you have a low income or you’re paying down debt, saving for retirement or college, or just want to be a good steward of your money, you may want to keep your grocery budget as low as possible. According to the USDA, the average cost to feed a family of four for a month based on their thrifty guidelines is approximately $646.80. You may be wondering how to feed your family on a low budget and spend less than or equal to the USDA’s thrifty guidelines. Doing so is challenging, but it can be done. Here are some strategies that will help you:

Cook at Home

Eating out will cost you more, plain and simple. If you’re trying to keep your food bill in check, cook at home for all of your meals. You’ll save hundreds of dollars a month by choosing to eat at home versus eating at a restaurant.

Get Back to the Basics

You can eat nutritiously without breaking the bank. Find simple recipes that nourish your body and save you money. Some examples include vegetarian soup, noodle soup, chili, spaghetti, etc. Make sure that you serve a generous side (or two or three) or fruits and vegetables to stretch your main dish.

Use Low Cost Proteins

How to Feed Your Family on a Low Budget — Photo by Anh Nguyen on Unsplash

If you’re on a budget, you likely won’t be eating steak. Instead, go for the cheaper types of proteins such as ground meat, chicken legs and thighs, beans, tofu, and cheese.

Use Healthy Carbohydrate Fillers

When you’re eating carbs at a meal, choose the least expensive but still nutritious carbs such as brown rice and sweet potatoes or Russet potatoes. Remember, carbohydrates have a place in your meal, but you likely don’t want the majority of your meals to be based around carbs. Instead, also focus on fruits and vegetables.

Consider Growing a Veggie Garden

If you’re able, consider growing a vegetable garden. You don’t need a lot of space to do this. If you have no space, consider an herb garden that you can grow on your kitchen window sill. If you’re in an apartment or have a small yard, you can grow some veggies in pots on your patio or balcony. Be creative!

Utilize Frugal Websites

Have a few frugal recipe websites in your repertoire to save. Sites like Budget Bytes, Good Cheap Eats, and $5 Dollar Dinners have delicious, healthy, frugal recipes. Consult these sites regularly for new ideas. All of these sites also have vegetarian recipes, which will help you save by limiting your meat consumption.

Make a Few Freezer Meals

If you make a meal and have ample leftovers, consider freezing some of it. Also, when you make a meal, you can intentionally make extras by doubling the recipe. Then put one serving in the freezer. Freezer meals are the perfect way to help you save money when you have a busy day and don’t have time to cook or when you have an unexpected event such as a child who is sick so you can’t get to the store.

Final Thoughts

Learning how to feed your family on a low budget is possible, you just have to be strategic when it comes to grocery shopping and meal planning.

4 Ways TV Watching is Hurting Your Finances

February 3, 2020 By MelissaB Leave a Comment

There’s nothing better after a long, hard day of work than to kick back and watch your favorite television show. However, what you consider to be a harmless way to unwind may be affecting your wallet in ways that you hadn’t even considered. In fact, there are 4 ways TV watching is hurting your finances.

Expense of Cable

At the most obvious level, you’re paying money to have the television set, pay for the cable, and use the electricity. If you still have cable, you’re likely paying $60 or more for the privilege of watching a wide variety of channels. That is at least $720 a year. If you’ve broken up with cable, congratulations, you’re saving yourself some serious money.

4 Ways TV Viewing Is Hurting Your Finances — Photo by freestocks.org on Unsplash

However, you likely pay for Netflix or other similar programs. You might be spending as little as $11 a month on this, so you’re looking at approximately $130 a year, much better than paying for cable. While you can pat yourself on the back for this smart move, know that watching shows is still costing you money, but in different ways.

Unrealistic Expectations

Watching television shows and movies can fill you with unrealistic expectations. While you may make a modest salary and be in the market for a modest house, thanks to shows like House Hunters, you expect a large master suite, a perfectly manicured lawn, and a three car garage. Your expectations have been elevated outside the realm of your own budget thanks to television.

Likewise, you may see characters like Rachel on Friends struggling to make it working as a coffee shop waitress, yet she wears glamorous clothes and has a nice New York City apartment. This is not reality, but television isn’t about being real. It’s about selling a dream, and most of the audience accepts the dream at the cost of their own finances.

Takes Time Away from Other Pursuits

The average American aged 35 to 49 watches five hours of television a day! (NY Daily News). That is 35 hours a week. Imagine all of the other things you could do with that time. You could invest your time in growing your income, whether that means a side hustle, going back to school to increase your future income, taking online classes, or reading a book. Your time could be used in so many other productive ways. Plus, advertisers would not be able to reach you as they reach those passively watching television, which means you’d likely keep more money in your pocket.

Health Issues

Finally, those 35 hours of passive television watching can take quite a toll on your health. Not only are you likely to indulge in unhealthy snack foods while watching television, you’re also not exercising. Years of excessive TV watching can lead to an increase in weight and health issues. In fact, according to CNN, researchers discovered that “for every additional two hours people spend glued to the tube on a typical day, their risk of developing type 2 diabetes increases by 20% and their risk of heart disease increases by 15%.”

While watching television may seem like a harmless pastime, keep in mind how much it’s really costing you. If you want to relax, consider grabbing a book instead or hanging out with friends.

How much television do you watch? Do you agree that T.V. viewing is affecting your finances, or do you not feel it has an effect?

Find Your Frugal Tribe and Save Even More Money

January 23, 2020 By MelissaB 1 Comment

Who is your tribe? With whom do you surround yourself? Too often, our friends seem to be those we accidentally meet. Someone at the gym we clicked with or a co-worker we have a connection with. These friendships are usually made because we have at least one thing in common, something we both love that connects us.

Find Your Frugal Tribe and Save Even More Money

If you’re of a money mind, perhaps being frugal and avoiding debt, you may find that most of your friends don’t share this trait with you. In real life, finding friends who share your passion for saving and pinching pennies can be very difficult.

Luckily, you can look online and find your frugal tribe and save even more money.

Find Your Frugal Tribe and Save Even More Money

Thanks to technology, there are many ways to find a frugal tribe.

YouTube Tribes

Find Your Frugal Tribe and Save Even More Money — Photo by NordWood Themes on Unsplash

My husband and I are looking to save money, especially on groceries, because we’ve been facing hundreds of dollars in medical expenses each month. The amount we spend on groceries is a place where we can reduce our expenses.

However, asking friends in real life what they spend on groceries and how they save money is a bit awkward, especially because most of my friends don’t seem to be money minded.

Enter YouTube. I discovered one woman on YouTube who feeds her family of 5 for $30 to $35 a week!! Insane, isn’t it? I know I’ll never get my grocery bill that low, but it is encouraging to know that there is definitely room to cut the grocery budget.

Facebook Tribes

The same vlogger I mentioned above also runs a Facebook group, 11,000+ members strong, solely devoted to frugal meals and groceries. I joined that group, and I’m learning a lot.

But you can find your frugal tribe in a range of topics. I belong to several Facebook groups–one on saving on groceries, one on frugal living in general, and one about frugal ways to send your kids to college.

Change Your Tribe, Change Your Habits

Here’s the thing. Whether you realize it or not, the people you surround yourself with, even if they are vastly different than you, affect your thoughts. If you’re around spendthrifts, you unconsciously become a little looser with your money because that’s what you see others doing. You may still be the most frugal person among your friends, but you’re likely less frugal than you used to be because of the influence of your peers.

Of course, the reverse is also true. Since watching YouTube videos and joining the Facebook group, I have slashed my grocery spending by 25% every month. Each day I learn new strategies for saving.

True, I don’t emulate a lot of what I learn. One vlogger on YouTube made two big meals at the beginning of the week and then fed her family the leftovers for the next four days. That definitely wouldn’t fly in my house, but it was a lesson in how to morph leftovers into other meals.

How to Find Your Tribe

If you can find a tribe in real life, that’s the best. If you have a frugal friend, perhaps she can help you connect with more frugal people.

However, if you don’t, the Internet is a great tool. The best starting place is YouTube and blogs. Facebook is a close second. Once you find one good frugal person, you can likely find more she is connected with. If you find someone via social media or YouTube, don’t be afraid to reach out electronically and say “hi.” Who knows, you may become friends in real life.

How do you find like-minded frugal friends?