I’m riffing off this post at Cheap Eats this busy morning. One of my favorite affordable meals has got to be potato soup, topped with a dab of crumbled bacon and a sprinkle of cheddar cheese.  Yum.  What’s your favorite cheap meal at home? Technorati Tags: frugal cooking
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Here’s what a whole beef looks like in the back of a 15 passenger van. 581 pounds, to be exact. And they only charged us $365 to butcher all that! It took most of our 20 cf freezer, plus 2 shelves of Grandma’s freezer. We are going to be eating on that for a...
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I got a phone call that pleased me this morning. It was the butcher, saying that our beef was wrapped and ready to bring home. Now I am trying to figure out just how much space a whole beef will occupy. The steer weighed 1100 pounds when we delivered it, and I have a...
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Recently I read something– beats me where– suggesting that when a girl is visiting a young man’s apartment, she ought to scope out the type of toilet paper he buys. If the paper is the cheapo scratchy kind, she ought to run, the article suggested, because no guy worth having would stoop to buy...
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A reader asked a question: “Since our Walmart is open 24 hours – If I get there at 4 instead of 5 am I better off?” Her question made me think of more tips that might be helpful for people preparing to brave the crowds at WalMart next Friday. The very hottest ‘doorbuster’ deals...
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I am one of those nutcase people who gets up insanely early to shop the deals on the day after Thanksgiving, also known as Black Friday. Here’s an updated version of post I wrote in 2006, sharing some of my best strategies for getting the most done on that most crazy of shopping days....
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ET at Titus 2:3-5 is interested in knowing what grocery prices are everywhere else, since she feels like she spends a lot compared to other people. You can go to her blog to see other people who are sharing their prices. But here are the ones that I know for sure in my area...
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I have a question for all of you who are currently displeased with your current food costs.   When you think of your own food spending (groceries and restaurant spending combined) what do you think is the biggest reason you struggle to keep your food budget down?   Is it rising food costs?   Picky kids?  No...
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Time for my yearly full-pantry picture. I have 7 full shelves and 1 shelf partway full of jars. Each shelf holds 33 quarts. But a couple of the shelves are double-stacked with pint jars. I am guessing I have over 250 jars, plus about 10 gallon-sized ziplocks of dried tomatoes, apples and apricots. It...
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Syrup is one of the things we’ve run out of this month. This simple syrup cooks up in minutes. Chances are you already have most of the needed ingredients sitting in your cupboard. If you don’t happen to have maple flavoring, don’t sweat it. Believe it or not, this recipe tastes great even without...
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