Best painless "stretching things" budget tips?

[nsmith]

I usually combine 1lb ground turkey or ground meat with one can of refried beans to make tacos (as well as taco seasoning). One evening DD called and asked to invite three friends for dinner. Wondering how I could feed these extra teens I added another can of refried beans to the pan. It turned out delish, no one notices and it made the tacos so much more waist friendly for DH and me.

 

[nsmith]

So many money saving ideas here. I love this thread.

Currently there is just my DH and myself at home. I purchased a free-range whole chicken (larger then the regular ones) on sale for $2.75. I roasted the chicken with veggies. We ate two dinners from that with different side dishes. Then my DH took all the meat off the chicken. I cut it up added some frozen peas, mushrooms, left over celery, carrots. Basically whatever was in the frig and freezer. Make chicken and dupplings for our third and fourth dinner. It was so good and we had four meals off that one chicken. I know this isn't orginal, but I was really amazed. And I saved a little more for our next Disney trip.

I put the carcass in a pot and cover w/ chicken broth, add seasoning, an onion, carrots, celery (if on hand, leave out if not) bring to a boil then simmer for an hour or so, drain and save the broth, pick off the meat, bring the broth back to a boil add cooked rice or tiny pasta a package of spinich, add the meat and we have delish chicken soup for lunch the next few days.

Or cover the carcass w/ chicken stock bring to a boil simmer for an hour or so, drain and save stock for later, pick off the meat and add a bottle of b b q sauce and we have bbq chicken sandwiches.

I find the chickens you cook your self are larger and work better for this than the store roasted ones.

 

[DisGirl819]

Haven't had time to read the whole thread yet but here are some things I do:

Don't use dryer sheets at all, use the dry sensor on the dryer and use vinegar in the wash in place of fabric softener...or hang dry clothes instead.

Cloth diaper and cloth wipes.

Use cloth napkins, kitchen towels and washcloths instead of paper products.

Limit use of disposable items.

mix beans in with ground beef for tacos, etc...still get protein but its much cheaper

cut the amount of meat you serve at a meal in half, no one needs large portions of meat.

vinegar for cleaning the table top and counter, its a great disinfectant and healthier than those clorox or lysol wipes

subscribe and save on amazon

eat all your leftovers

make things instead of buying (including things for kids to play with, clothing and towels/napkins (if you can sew), etc)

cut up old stained clothes and use as rags for those messy jobs you'd use paper towels for instead

make your own yogurt or ricotta cheese in the crockpot (super easy)

can your own fruits, vegs and jams

secondhand stores for clothes and toys. I don't think my kids have very much stuff that was brand new prior to them getting it...shop yard sales

 

[Kycha]

I usually combine 1lb ground turkey or ground meat with one can of refried beans to make tacos (as well as taco seasoning). One evening DD called and asked to invite three friends for dinner. Wondering how I could feed these extra teens I added another can of refried beans to the pan. It turned out delish, no one notices and it made the tacos so much more waist friendly for DH and me.

DH and I don't like refried beans or ground turkey. So, when I need to stretch my taco meat, I throw in a cup or more of frozen corn kernels. I got the idea from a salsa I love...it is black bean and corn. I loved the sweet corn with the spicy/salty flavor of the taco meat. Another suggestion is adding cooked brown rice.

 

[PrincessMom4]

Vinegar (1.99 for a big bottle) and $1 for baking soda cleans my bathroom. My tiles get white and clean. Smells a little like a chip truck for a bit, BUT it really cleans well.

 

[lovewdwdvc]

Please share the crock pot recipes for these.

 

[tinkarooni]

I haven't seen this one yet, we use dish rags to wash dishes but sometimes you need the extra scrub of a brillo pad. I buy a box of brillo pads, only on sale and with a coupon. If you don't need it often, we use one maybe twice a week for really tough stuff, put the wet brillo pad into a small baggie and put it in the freezer. The brillo doesn't get rusty and lasts for weeks, months if you are only using it once in a while. We were having to throw them out between uses until I found this tip.

 

[Natalie's Mommy]

when i make taco's or sloppy joes i add a cup or two of cooked brown rice to the meat. stretches it out and makes it more filling.

 

[momplus3plus4]

My kids love Uncrustables(ok, so do I). I purchased a sandwich sealer from Pampered Chef($10), buy loaves of bread at the bread store and make my own Uncrustables. I make them all at once and freeze. Very easy to do and much, much cheaper than the store bought ones.

 

[Jen12573]

Freeze more foods by freezing things differently. My favorite:

Soups, pulled pork, chili and stews (basically anything that spreads out in a baggie when you lay it down):

Cool down what you are freezing, put portions into a freezer ziploc bags, lay them flat on top of each other on a sheet pan, and once they are frozen take them off the sheet pan and just stand them up. No need to waste precious freezer space with bulky storage containers. Once you've thawed and eaten the contents, wash them and reuse. This is also great if you forget to make something for dinner, you can just take a bag of whatever out of the freezer and thaw it by boiling it in water.

 

[Grumpy's Gal]

I usually combine 1lb ground turkey or ground meat with one can of refried beans to make tacos (as well as taco seasoning). One evening DD called and asked to invite three friends for dinner. Wondering how I could feed these extra teens I added another can of refried beans to the pan. It turned out delish, no one notices and it made the tacos so much more waist friendly for DH and me.

I have also done that using brown rice -- not once has anyone opened their taco and said that they knew there was rice in the meat. It goes farther.....and is probably healthier....

 

[Jerseyguy's Wife]

I am loving this thread. I wish I had a better tip, but the one I have is simple. My DH and kids are "light leaver-onners". I follow behind them and shut them off all the time. If only I could get them to do it...

 

[splash5]

When using vinegar as softener in the wash, what do you use for static cling in the dryer?

 

[DisGirl819]

When using vinegar as softener in the wash, what do you use for static cling in the dryer?

My dryer has a sensor for when the clothes are dry. Overdrying causes static. If you dry for shorter amount of time or on a lower heat you shouldn't get static. If you want to break up the clothes some get a dryer ball or two.

Edit to add: I don't use fabric softener or dryer sheets and I haven't for two years. The only static problems I have are when I over dry synthetic fabrics like fleecy pajamas, blankets, etc (or if there are too many fleece pjs in a load with cottons, the fleece will get staticky if I don't take them out early)

 

[pigletto]

Rain Barrels!!!!

We got two in the Spring. I had NO IDEA how much water you can get from a decent rain. It didn't rain for a month and I still could water my four hanging baskets and planter boxes everyday without depleting them! An entire afternoon/evening of rain and they overflow!

I also don't water the lawn. It's too big, and it's been too dry here this summer. My neighbors have their sprinkler out every day for hours and it still looks awful.

 

[nsmith]

My dryer has a sensor for when the clothes are dry. Overdrying causes static. If you dry for shorter amount of time or on a lower heat you shouldn't get static. If you want to break up the clothes some get a dryer ball or two.

Edit to add: I don't use fabric softener or dryer sheets and I haven't for two years. The only static problems I have are when I over dry synthetic fabrics like fleecy pajamas, blankets, etc (or if there are too many fleece pjs in a load with cottons, the fleece will get staticky if I don't take them out early)

I only dry cloths for about 10 mins then hang till dry. Haven't used dryer sheets in ages, don't remember why I stopped buying them, but we never have static issues, so that is why

So you save electricity by using the dryer less and not ironing, save time by not ironing or folding the cloths and money by not buying dryer sheets AWESOME!!!

 

[nsmith]

Rain Barrels!!!!

We got two in the Spring. I had NO IDEA how much water you can get from a decent rain. It didn't rain for a month and I still could water my four hanging baskets and planter boxes everyday without depleting them! An entire afternoon/evening of rain and they overflow!

I also don't water the lawn. It's too big, and it's been too dry here this summer. My neighbors have their sprinkler out every day for hours and it still looks awful.

When we bought our house 12 years ago we used the sprinkler system for one month and the water bill was $120

 

[bpesch]

To the person who uses regular detergent in her high-efficiency washer to save money: very bad idea! We learned the hard way that it can damage your machine. It won't happen immediately, but months down the line you may find out that the wrong type of detergent has gummed up the parts and you'll be in for a major repair bill!

 

[Alexander]

To the person who uses regular detergent in her high-efficiency washer to save money: very bad idea! We learned the hard way that it can damage your machine. It won't happen immediately, but months down the line you may find out that the wrong type of detergent has gummed up the parts and you'll be in for a major repair bill!

We've had 2 HE machines and never had a problem using regular detergent. Our first HE lasted 10 years and HE detergents weren't even on the market when we first got it. The second one we've had for 4 years and sometimes use HE and sometimes don't. It has been fine. I think if you are using too much detergent you are more likely to run into problems. We also don't use powder detergent, only liquid and only Tide, so I don't know if that makes a difference or not.

 

[englishteacha]

I am sensitive to chemicals, so I clean with soap and water, vinegar, and baking soda whenever I can. I'm still using up big containers of Melaluca brand concentrated "green" cleaners that my MIL gave us 10 years ago. Some of them I don't like much, so I've started using them to clean the toilet bowl. I'd rather use them up than throw them out!