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Most days, one of these meals will be what you are packing. Here are some recipes and ideas for you to try. Shepherd’s Pie: cook and mashed potatoes 1 can of corn, half the liquid drained browned ground beef
Refrigerate leftovers to be used for lunches. NOTE: Feel free to mix things up a bit. Use a different meat or vegetable. Easy Lasagna:
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*** Vegetable Soup: 1 regular size can condensed tomato soup, plus 1 can of water 1 small can of corn, drained 1 small can of carrots, drained 1 small zucchini, skin left on, sliced into rounds and each round cut into fourths
Shannon PS. For ideas on how to save money when packing for school, work or trips, as well as ideas on how to keep foods hot and cold, see the post Making Lunches and/or Dinners to Bring to Work under the category Money Matters. Yes, children can be trained to bring home reusable items. And, they can learn to be environmentally friendly.
With prices the way they are these days, we are all looking for ways to cut corners. One of the best ways that I can think of, for those who work outside the home, is to bring your own meals to work with you. This post will discuss ways in which you can do this.
How are you saving money by doing these things? By reusing containers, napkins and such, you only have to purchase them once. If you keep track of everything, you will not likely have to purchaser them again. By bringing your own food, you are drastically cutting your work expenses. Homemade foods are healthier than what you can order at any restaurant, so you are also saving on medical bills. How much time will it take you to make your lunch to bring? No time at all, really. The biggest task will be in heating your food in the morning and transferring it to the hot/cold thermos. A lot of things can even be packed the night before. What If there is a microwave at work? Well, if not too many people use it then you will save even more time and money here. You will not need a more expensive hot/cold thermos, for one thing. And, while you are putting away dinner the night before you go to work, you can simply put some into the reusable container that you will be bringing to work. Be sure, if using this method, that the container you are using is microwave safe. For the rest of this week, I will be posting ideas and recipes for you to try when packing your meals for work. Shannon
My nephew spends a lot of time with me for various reasons: His mother works, goes to school full time, interns, and he doesn’t want to behave for her in general. His behaviour is usually pretty extreme, and he is hard to handle. He is staying here for a little while. He had a very bad weekend at home, and had to be brought back to me early. He did not like this at all, but does not have a choice. I take that back, he does have a choice. He can choose to behave. He is almost eleven, and we are all working hard to change his behaviour before he becomes a teenager. Dealing with his issues this past weekend suddenly made me think about my daughter, Zowie. She is the one who is still at home. She is basically a good kid, who has rarely ever given me any trouble. This summer, she joined the Upward Bound Program, which is for college prep. She wants to go to college for Child Psychology, and is planning on ten extra years of school to accomplish her goals. She studies hard, and has been studying for PSAT’s and SAT’s for the past week. She is sixteen, is homeschooled, and she takes Biology and Algebra at a neerby high school. She is very busy. It also occurred to me that, with all of the studying she does, it will be hard on her having her cousin around. If he acts up, she will not be able to concentrate. Plus, it would be stressful for her even if he did not have behavioural issues. I did some things for her this weekend:
We, as single parents, have a tough job. Parenting is not always easy. We should all try to remember to reward good behaviour. Given the current circumstances, I am convinced that this is something that all parents should be doing on a regular basis. Below are some ideas on how I may reward each child for good behaviour. What ideas can you come up with for your children? Feel free to post them here, as others may be able to use them as well. Zowie (16):
Nephew (11):
I hope these ideas help some of you. Shannon
How often do you get an evening to yourself? Once a week? A month? Once every few months? Wondering what to do? Don’t want to go out? Want to just be alone and relax? My favorite way to pamper myself on one of those rare evenings alone is to start off with a hot bath, usually with bubbles or powdered milk added. Now, I know that we are not supposed to take hot baths, but this is the only way that I can get my body to cooperate with me enough to relax. After I soak in the tub, shave and wash my hair, I dry off slightly and then rub lotion all over so that my skin is very soft. I braid my hair, make a cup of tea, and settle into bed for an evening of reading. Simple? Yes. Cheap? Yes. It does not take a lot of time in preparation, or a lot of money, to create spa moments at home. Just a little imagination, and you will come up with many ideas for pampering yourself. My challenge to you? Pamper yourself the next time you have at least a couple of hours to yourself. Shannon
I have a process that I use to get what we need for our family, our home and things to use as gifts. (This last is going to be another post.) I begin this process just before yard sale season begins.
After this, I list the needed and wanted items on pages listed as follows:
I then decide on what I am willing to pay, putting that price next to each item. This is not what I will necessarily pay, as I will try to get it cheaper. I keep these lists in a notebook, which I try to keep with me at all times. This helps me to keep my priorities straight. I also try to stick to the list, but I do sometimes pick up something that I know will be useful. Here are a few examples of what I have picked up recently:
I hope that this is helpful for everyone. Shannon
On Living the Low-Income Life, I get many questions about how I actually go about living frugally. In all honesty, it is all written in the posts on the blog. In this article, I will condense it all down to my top ten basics of frugal living tips.
There are obviously many other things that you can do to live more frugally. Check out Living the Low-Income Life and other blogs and web sites for more ideas. Shannon
There are some basic things that we all need to know if we want to be able to cook frugally for our families. There are also varying degrees of frugality, depending on how healthy you intend to cook. I will cover both of these degrees in this article. I would like to introduce you to my frugal top ten list:
I can do this with white, overly processed foods when I have to, but to make these steps healthier, I try to use as many whole grains as possibles. Not enriched white or wheat, but 100% whole wheat and grain items. I also use brown rice, cooked in vegetable stock, or liquid from cooking vegetables. The Healthy Hillbilly Housewife is a great place to find affordable recipes, as is Frugal Recipes. You will find many frugal, healthy recipes at both sites that you can easily incorporate into your menu planning. Shannon
It is very important for me to live a frugal life. I am sure that it is just as important for many of you to live frugally as it is for me. It is, for some of us, a way of life. This article has been put together for all of you as an introduction to a number of (near) future articles on living the single (and parental) life frugally. I know that it will be helpful to many of you. That said, here are some links to wonderful blogs and web sites that have been created to help families that want (or need) to live frugally.
The links above are the five best links that I have found (and created) at this point. I will let you know if I find any others. You will find some of the best advice available for living frugally through these links. I hope that you enjoy them. Be on the lookout for further frugality articles on this blog, coming your way soon. Shannon
A great way to spend time as a family is during a walk. Not only are you hanging out together, but you are also getting exercise. So, how can you make a walk even better? By photographing what you see along the way. All members of your family, except for the youngest of children, can take part in this. Children will learn new photography skills as they get older and, if you are no photographer, they will likely be able to teach you a thing or two. My daughters know more about using my digital camera than I do, but I am learning. If I don’t understand something, they can usually show me what to do. Do you need a digital camera? No. Especially if your children are young. A 35 millimeter will do just fine. If this idea appeals to you, then why not take walks along different paths each time. Then you can get an assortment of pictures. You can go about the sharing of the camera in a couple of ways. You can all take turns on your walk, or you can take turns by one of you using the camera during each walk. For example, your son can be the photographer on Monday, your daughters can be on Tuesday, and you can be on Wednesday. In a future post, I will tell you what you can do with the pictures that your family takes.
Over the years, we have played many games together. Sometimes the players have been my daughters and I, and other times we have had company. Children generally love to play games, and it is a good idea to have an assortment for them to choose from. When my daughters were little, we would play different games than we do now. Children learn new skills each time you intorduce a new game to them, whether you are playing board games, card games, or another type of game. These games have been our favorites at different ages. Babies/Toddlers: Peek-A-Boo Patty Cake Young Children: Puppet Shows Chutes and Ladders Memory Games Go Fish Charades Kindergarten and Up: War (card game) UNO SkipBo Monopoly Life The Ungame Scrabble Checkers Pictionary Middle School to Adult: Boggle Who Wants to be a Millionaire Mystery at Hogwarts Rummy Tri Bond Mad Gab Trivial Pursuit Jeopardy (homemade version) Let’s Make a Deal ***Different children will learn new skills at different rates. Only you can judge what games your child is ready for. |
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