January 2014 Real Food Meal Plan

Ideas and resources for menu planning in January, many seasonal winter and real food recipes. Very simple ingredients, from scratch, frugal recipes. You can save so much money by planning your meals. Even if you only plan three days at … Continue reading

Thrifty Thanksgiving for Tough Times – Make Ahead Thanksgiving Timeline

This series of articles is designed to help families put a frugal Thanksgiving meal on the table. Start at the beginning: Frugal $50 Thanksgiving Meal Make Ahead Thanksgiving Timeline This isn’t strictly a timeline, but more an order of cooking. … Continue reading

Thrifty Thanksgiving for Tough Times – Frugal (Real Food) Thanksgiving Dinner Recipes and Costs

These frugal Thanksgiving dinner recipes have been broken down to compare costs for homemade versus store bought dishes. This series of articles is designed to help families put a frugal Thanksgiving meal on the table. Start at the beginning: Frugal … Continue reading

Frugal Road Trip with Kids – Real Food and Snacks

This is a series of articles on how to survive a road trip with four kids, including a toddler and a preschooler, from a frugal mom who has done it on the cheap many times. Chock full of 244 fantabulous tips for your long car trip!

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Frugal Road Trip with Kids – Plan Your Route

This is a series of articles on how to survive a road trip with four kids, including a toddler and a preschooler, from a frugal mom who has done it on the cheap many times. Chock full of 244 fantabulous tips for your long car trip!

Plan your route ahead of time. Use sites like Road Trip USA, National Geographic’s Drives of a Lifetime, Trails.com’s Scenic Byways, or America’s Byways. You can also use Google Maps or Mapquest and click on Avoid Highways.

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Get More Nutritional Bang For Your One Buck – 46 foods that cost as much as Ramen but are better for you

I can buy a box of spaghetti for $1, and Ramen noodles are less than a penny cheaper per pound. What can I get for the same amount (or less) that is better for us?
Many people struggle on a very tight food budget. The food stamps budget is difficult, you must be thrifty and economical. It has been proven that highly processed foods cost less than nutritionally dense, fresh foods. It is very tempting to grab that $1 package of noodles and chow down on those calories. However, when you buy foods like this you’re not getting as much nutritional value.

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