Frugal living is a way of life which has been mastered and fine tuned to an extent where you won’t feel deprived of worldly pleasures by cutting back on unnecessary expenditures. Most people resort to budget cuts and yard sales in order to live frugally. What they don’t realize is that living a financially prudent and Spartan life is not just about stuffing pocket change into a bank account. It is rather a way of life which encompasses everything, right from the power rating of the appliances you buy down to the ingredients on your kitchen shelf. Here are some kitchen tactics to complement your frugal diet and lifestyle.

Shopping tips

Saving money on food has to start outside the kitchen simply because a little bit of organized shopping can go a long way in setting up your frugal kitchen.

• Purchase in bulk – There are multiple advantages in buying food material in bulk quantities. In case you’re purchasing large quantities of food material at one go, you would have to travel less to the local supermarket or the grocery store. Buying what you need for the entire week at once will not only save you the pain of going to the market everyday but also let you save on your car’s fuel bill. Moreover, merchants also provide discounts on bulk purchases as an incentive for customers, encouraging them to buy more.

• Make a list – One of the worst mistakes that people make while they are out buying groceries is that they just go in with a very vague idea of what they need. This eventually results in a lot of needless items in the shopping cart as well as an unnecessarily long bill. Most of the times people just end up forgetting to buy the bare kitchen and fridge essentials and end up running to the store every other day. The best solution to avoid such a situation is to take inventory of your kitchen, stores and freezer and list the things that you would require according to priority. Take some time to make the list and ensure that you review it before finally going out shopping.

• Plan the menu – A little bit of planning what you are going to eat will go a long way in saving money and keeping your grocery list concise. Do a weekly or bi-weekly menu plan and then build your grocery list accordingly. You can still add a margin for adding a few things to the cart while you are out shopping without losing focus on what you essentially need.

• Build a kitchen garden – This is one of the inexpensive ways to ensure a steady and fresh supply of herbs and spices. Although you would need to buy the more exotic stuff like cardamoms and cinnamon, you can easily grow stuff like parsley, basil, thyme and rosemary in your own back yard. Even if you don’t have enough space to build a full scale kitchen garden, you can opt to use small sunlit spaces like the window sill or the balcony and set up flower pots for the plants. You can acquire the seeds and saplings from your local nursery or buy them online.

Cooking tricks

Once you are done shopping and getting things ready, its time to get into the kitchen and learn how to optimize the utilization of your resources.

• Reduce wastage – Most people don’t realize that there is a lot of unconscious wastage that occurs every time they set out to cook a meal. There are some ingredients as well which people don’t realize are edible and end up dumping it in the trash. When you boil chicken, use the liquid left over in the saucepan for making soups and sauces. You can also boil noodles or rice in the liquid to make it more flavorful. You can also use the liquid to steam dumplings to enhance their flavor. There are many such things all over the kitchen which people don’t know are usable and end up wasting them which adds to the weekly food budget.

• Co-ordinate ingredients and dishes – Ensure that the ingredients you buy can be used for multiple dishes. This will enable you to buy each item in bulk quantities and also reduce the number of other ingredients you will need to cook a meal. For example, you can fry bacon for breakfast, chop up a few fried bacon slices and use them in a salad, and you can use the same chopped bacon for dinner along with spicy baked beans. Just mix and match and spread out your menu evenly so that you don’t have to repeat the same ingredient too many times.

• Reprocess leftovers – A bowlful of sautéed vegetables from lunch, that handful of chicken nuggets from dinner and the little bit of spicy curry left over from the Indian food that you had ordered out will eventually end up in the dustbin. Don’t neglect leftovers. Statistically speaking, the quantity of leftovers accumulated in 2 days by the average American family can be reused to make 2 complete meals. Put all the chicken and the veggies on a tray, cover it with a sauce and bake in an oven or just drop them all into a stockpot and turn it into a soup. You can also find various creative ways to reuse leftovers and save money along the way.

Cooking is an art and frugal living is a way of life. If you can successfully combine both, you will be able to eat healthy without spending a fortune. You will also be able to reduce the amount of time and energy spent in the kitchen, leaving you free to take care of other things.

Check out the 5 financial tips for the first week of March 2012.

Tip no 1 – A High Deductible Health Plan (HDHP) combined with a Health Savings Account (HSA) will let you save tax free dollars.

You get tax advantages after enrolling into HDHP and HSA. Your money goes towards the HAS before taxes. You can withdraw money anytime. You can take away money on the present day or in future, but you won’t have to pay tax. However, you can take advantage of this facility only when you use the money for medical expenditures. The money you earn on HSA is absolutely tax free. You can invest the money in mutual bonds and reap profits. Read the rest of this entry »

It is time to think out of the box when traditional tips don’t help you to save dollars. You’ll have to search for the creative tips to extract extra cash and ignore the usual rules. Read along to know about some tips that may at first seem odd, till you’re able to save extra dollars in 2012.

Unconventional tips to save more in 2012

Check out some uncommon tips to squeeze extra dollars from your wallet

1. Say no to automatic banking: You may get stunned to read this tip. After all, automatic banking helps you to pay your bills on time. It probably saves you the late fees and penalties. Nevertheless, the automatic bill payment system makes it quite easy to overlook what you’re actually purchasing and spending. Read the rest of this entry »

Thanksgiving Day is round the corner. It is the day to have a delicious meal with your friends, and thank God for whatever you have. However, inviting your close friends for dinner when price of the food items are increasing with each passing day can be quite expensive. Organizing a dinner party on the Thanksgiving Day may not be good for your financial health. It is said that people had to spend around $4 (per person) for cooking a traditional meal on the last Thanksgiving Day. As the price of the turkey and other vegetables are expected to go up on this coming Thanksgiving Day, so it can be easily assumed that you’ll have to pay more for having a feast on the special day.

It is true that organizing dinner parties on the Thanksgiving Day can be expensive. However, if you do some planning and shop frugally, then you can enjoy the special day without getting into a credit hangover. You can have the peace of your mind even after the Thanksgiving party is over. There won’t be any need to reduce your Black Friday shopping list if you do some important calculations before the arrival of Thanksgiving Day. Read along to know some tips to have a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner party without crossing your budget.

Follow some tips to save money on the Thanksgiving Day

Here are some tips that may help you save money on the Thanksgiving Day:

1. Make a checklist: Create a list of the items you’ll need to serve a delicious meal to the guests. You’ll want your guests to be well-fed. So, chalk out the essential items you’ll need in a piece of paper. Visit the stores and purchase the necessary items a few days early. There will be fewer crowds at the stores during this time. You can choose the items at your own comfort. The price of the items will also be comparatively lower than that of Thanksgiving Day. So, you can get the best items at a cheap price.

Use coupons to do your Thanksgiving shopping. This will help you save more money. Make sure you buy all the items on a single day. Extra trips will cost you money and time.

2. Cook a few items: Instead of serving several dishes to your friends and family members, cook and serve a few delicious items on the plate. You don’t need to prepare 4-5 side dishes on the special day. The guests can hardly eat so much. Lots of food and money will just be wasted. You should never allow this. Plan your menu wisely. Cook few tasty but trusted recipes on the Thanksgiving Day. Your guests will gobble all the foods within a few minutes.

3. Purchase a frozen turkey: The price of a fresh turkey was around $17.66 in the last year. The price is expected to increase in the current year. So, a wise decision will be to purchase a frozen turkey by paying 30%-40% less than the normal price in this year. Make sure you keep the turkey in the refrigerator and cook it well. You can even go through various recipes which can be cooked with a frozen turkey. Your guests won’t be able to demarcate between a frozen and fresh turkey.

4. Serve home made pumpkin pie: Ready made pumpkin pie from the confectionery will cost you good amount of money. Instead of purchasing it from the store, you can make your own pumpkin pie. It is not too difficult to cook a pumpkin pie. All you need to do is get hold of the authentic recipe from the websites, and follow the cooking instruction properly.

5. Organize a pot luck meal: If you’re hosting the dinner party on the Thanksgiving Day at your house, then it does not mean that you’ll have to shop and cook alone. It will create a great pressure on your wallet if you take the responsibility of doing all the cooking alone. Ask your friends to cook and bring one dish to the party. Your friends won’t mind if they are asked to cook a dish of their choice. Rather, they will cook the dishes with enthusiasm. They will become involved with the party and will feel happy to help you in some way.

So, if some one makes an amazing roasted turkey or pumpkin pie, then ask her to bring that dish to the party. Ask each friend to bring something. This way you’ll be responsible for only one dish. It will help you save your precious time and money.

Finally, if you’re inviting your parents or grand mother to the dinner party, then you must be making transport arrangements to make sure they reach their home safely. In such a situation, get to know the gas price in advance. The fuel price is expected to increase in this season. You can make carpool arrangements if required. This will help you lower the transpiration cost.

Check out the 5 financial tips for the 3rd week of November 2011

Tip no 1 – Don’t shop when you’re hungry or sad.

Research shows that people end up taking hasty decisions when they are ravenous or not in a good mood. They don’t make decisions judiciously. This is why it is advisable to avoid going to a departmental store when you had a fight with your spouse or are extremely hungry. You’ll not be in a good state of mind when your stomach is empty. Your mind will be focused on food, and not on the other things. Read the rest of this entry »