Frugal Family Vacations
Frugal Family Vacations Everybody loves a nice, relaxing, vacation. The family vacation gives us a chance to focus on family and spend some quality time together. Unfortunately, sometimes the family vacation can be costly. Especially, if you have a large family. Including a vacation in your plans can be a challenge on a tight budget. [...]
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From Frugal Simplicity.
WFMW: Q & R
My July Digest feature is Summer Fun From A to Z and I thought I’d share a sneak peek (Q & R) with you here. Molly Members will find the new Digest in your Member Pages on the first. I know you’re going to love this issue. The Something Old, Something New column is particularly amazing!
Q: Quirky places to visit – Roadside America is such a fun site! It features a huge collection of offbeat destinations. Search by state to see what may be nearby. Even if you never visit any of these places in real life, an Internet tour alone is entertaining! Wondering where to find the world’s largest tire . . . or the site of the first train robbery in the Wild West? You might want to search Roadside America! Who knows what you
might find just around the corner from home.
R: Road trips - MomsMinivan.com is one of the best sites out there for preparing for a road trip with your family. Another good one is WeJustGotBack.com (tons of great free tips here.) I also talked about road trips at length in my June 2009 Digest titled Frugal Family Vacations. (Molly Members will be pleased to find Frugal Family Travel as one of your freedownloads in July as well!)
Summer family travel fun works for me! For more Works for Me Wednesday tips visit We Are that Family.
Continue reading WFMW: Q & R …
From Econobusters.
Frugal Family Fun Tips
Frugal Family Fun Tips
Frugal family fun is easy to find. Enjoying an outing doesn’t need to cost a lot of money. Below I list several ideas for frugal outing for the family. Pick one, or even all of them, and enjoy.
1. Be patient and wait to see new movies on video. Some communities [...]
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From Frugal Simplicity.
Nutritious And Frugal Food Choices That Stretch The Family Budget – Frugal Challenge
If you were forced to restock your entire pantry from scratch, what would happen to your family’s budget? This is not an unheard of event, either by design or by circumstances.
A friend of mine who moved to the south some years ago found out the hard way that bugs live in dry foods when not properly stored. Her entire pantry, everything that was not sealed in glass, had to be thrown out. This meant pasta, rice, flour, sugar, and seasonings. Bugs don’t stop to see if a box of spaghetti is open, they just chew right through.
Shortly after that, she was hit by a hurricane, knocking out the power for nine days. This meant whatever food in the refrigerator or freezer she and her family couldn’t eat or give away had to be thrown out.
Restocking a pantry from scratch can be devastating to your grocery budget. How much money would it take to restock your food as it was? Could you ever afford to completely restock your food supply if you lost it all? Then, the bigger question is, would you even want to?
When we’re creating a frugal family budget, normally food is the most flexible item on the budget. We can all look at our grocery expenses and make cuts. We may buy too many prepackaged foods and expensive treats. If we eliminate even a few of our luxury food items, we can see results in our budget very quickly.
Now, getting back to the empty pantry and refrigerator scenario… if you had to restock your supplies, and had a very tight grocery budget, what would you buy?
You may have to look at your grocery list a little differently than you might normally. We often start with our favorite recipes and build a list from there. But, for this week’s frugal challenge, I’m suggesting that you don’t look at your groceries like you normally do. Instead of looking at what you normally cook for meals, you are going to take a look at what you COULD buy to save big money on your food budget. Here are a few examples of food items that are frugally priced yet yield the nutrition our families need.
Dried beans and peas – This is the basic food for frugal meals and super nutrition. Buy bags or cans of black beans, garbanzo, navy beans, pinto beans, split peas, and lentils. Choose dried for the best value, but go ahead and stock up on cans if necessary for quick meals. Beans and peas are a protein as well as a vegetable, so you’re doing double duty when you serve these inexpensive powerhouse foods. This is the one food you can NOT afford to skip and should be a staple in every pantry.
Brown rice – Skip the white fluffy rice. You want whole, long grain brown rice in your house at all times. Brown rice packs a whole lot of nutrients and fibre into a little bit of food. Keep a batch of rice cooked and in your refrigerator at all times and you have a quick meal in the making, for just pennies a serving.
Potatoes – Like brown rice, potatoes are also a great “vehicle” for a whole bunch of other food. Potatoes are not the enemy when it comes to weight loss either. They are packed with nutrition and fibre and does the body good! The weight-gain culprit is what you ADD to the potatoes. Keep that in mind and enjoy baked potatoes topped with fresh vegetables for a filling lunch or dinner.
Pasta – Along with brown rice and potatoes, pasta is another excellent vehicle for good, wholesome meals. Be sure to buy whole grain pastas to get the most in the way of nutrition and fibre. Stock up on fun shapes and sizes so you can create interesting as well as frugal dishes.
Nuts – When compared to the price of meat, nuts comes out on top. You may want to start replacing meat with nuts several times a week. Simply sprinkling a handful of chopped nuts on a salad or vegetable dish provides your family with the protein they need in their diet. Buy nuts that have not been roasted and salted for your best nutrition and value. If you prefer the taste of roasted salted nuts, go ahead and put them in the oven with a little salt on a low heat and roast them yourself.
Eggs – Not just for breakfast anymore! Choose eggs as a source of protein in salads, casseroles, even soups. The recipes for eggs are numerous and varied, so you should never tire of whipping up an egg-based dish for your family. Cheap and packed with nutrition, eggs should always be on your grocery list. If you’re on a cholesterol reduced diet, here’s a note: egg whites have just as much protein as the entire egg without the cholesterol.
Onions, Celery, Garlic, Salt and Pepper – The price of seasonings can send your budget into shock. If you have a limited food budget, there are ways to season without buying those little jars for big money. These standard “flavoring vegetables,” with the addition of a little salt and pepper, can pack a wallop when it comes time to add pep to your food.
These foods would be what I consider the “staples” in everyone’s pantry and refrigerator. You don’t have to spend a lot of money to keep your kitchen stocked when you shop these basic foods first.
Then, a trip to the grocery store to buy a few things like bread, milk, butter, peanut butter, chicken, meat, fruits, and vegetables will be all you need. You can create hearty meals with just a few items once you have the pantry and refrigerator stocked with the basics.
If you are on your way to the grocery store today, I hope you’ll consider building a stockpile of these frugal and healthy foods. Then, see what kinds of frugal and filling meals you can come up. Feed your hungry family and stay within your grocery budget – now won’t that be a great day!
Continue reading Nutritious And Frugal Food Choices That Stretch The Family Budget – Frugal Challenge …
From Hillbilly Housewife Blog.
Nutritious And Frugal Food Choices That Stretch The Family Budget – Frugal Challenge
If you were forced to restock your entire pantry from scratch, what would happen to your family’s budget? This is not an unheard of event, either by design or by circumstances.
A friend of mine who moved to the south some years ago found out the hard way that bugs live in dry foods when not properly stored. Her entire pantry, everything that was not sealed in glass, had to be thrown out. This meant pasta, rice, flour, sugar, and seasonings. Bugs don’t stop to see if a box of spaghetti is open, they just chew right through.
Shortly after that, she was hit by a hurricane, knocking out the power for nine days. This meant whatever food in the refrigerator or freezer she and her family couldn’t eat or give away had to be thrown out.
Restocking a pantry from scratch can be devastating to your grocery budget. How much money would it take to restock your food as it was? Could you ever afford to completely restock your food supply if you lost it all? Then, the bigger question is, would you even want to?
When we’re creating a frugal family budget, normally food is the most flexible item on the budget. We can all look at our grocery expenses and make cuts. We may buy too many prepackaged foods and expensive treats. If we eliminate even a few of our luxury food items, we can see results in our budget very quickly.
Now, getting back to the empty pantry and refrigerator scenario… if you had to restock your supplies, and had a very tight grocery budget, what would you buy?
You may have to look at your grocery list a little differently than you might normally. We often start with our favorite recipes and build a list from there. But, for this week’s frugal challenge, I’m suggesting that you don’t look at your groceries like you normally do. Instead of looking at what you normally cook for meals, you are going to take a look at what you COULD buy to save big money on your food budget. Here are a few examples of food items that are frugally priced yet yield the nutrition our families need.
Dried beans and peas – This is the basic food for frugal meals and super nutrition. Buy bags or cans of black beans, garbanzo, navy beans, pinto beans, split peas, and lentils. Choose dried for the best value, but go ahead and stock up on cans if necessary for quick meals. Beans and peas are a protein as well as a vegetable, so you’re doing double duty when you serve these inexpensive powerhouse foods. This is the one food you can NOT afford to skip and should be a staple in every pantry.
Brown rice – Skip the white fluffy rice. You want whole, long grain brown rice in your house at all times. Brown rice packs a whole lot of nutrients and fibre into a little bit of food. Keep a batch of rice cooked and in your refrigerator at all times and you have a quick meal in the making, for just pennies a serving.
Potatoes – Like brown rice, potatoes are also a great “vehicle” for a whole bunch of other food. Potatoes are not the enemy when it comes to weight loss either. They are packed with nutrition and fibre and does the body good! The weight-gain culprit is what you ADD to the potatoes. Keep that in mind and enjoy baked potatoes topped with fresh vegetables for a filling lunch or dinner.
Pasta – Along with brown rice and potatoes, pasta is another excellent vehicle for good, wholesome meals. Be sure to buy whole grain pastas to get the most in the way of nutrition and fibre. Stock up on fun shapes and sizes so you can create interesting as well as frugal dishes.
Nuts – When compared to the price of meat, nuts comes out on top. You may want to start replacing meat with nuts several times a week. Simply sprinkling a handful of chopped nuts on a salad or vegetable dish provides your family with the protein they need in their diet. Buy nuts that have not been roasted and salted for your best nutrition and value. If you prefer the taste of roasted salted nuts, go ahead and put them in the oven with a little salt on a low heat and roast them yourself.
Eggs – Not just for breakfast anymore! Choose eggs as a source of protein in salads, casseroles, even soups. The recipes for eggs are numerous and varied, so you should never tire of whipping up an egg-based dish for your family. Cheap and packed with nutrition, eggs should always be on your grocery list. If you’re on a cholesterol reduced diet, here’s a note: egg whites have just as much protein as the entire egg without the cholesterol.
Onions, Celery, Garlic, Salt and Pepper – The price of seasonings can send your budget into shock. If you have a limited food budget, there are ways to season without buying those little jars for big money. These standard “flavoring vegetables,” with the addition of a little salt and pepper, can pack a wallop when it comes time to add pep to your food.
These foods would be what I consider the “staples” in everyone’s pantry and refrigerator. You don’t have to spend a lot of money to keep your kitchen stocked when you shop these basic foods first.
Then, a trip to the grocery store to buy a few things like bread, milk, butter, peanut butter, chicken, meat, fruits, and vegetables will be all you need. You can create hearty meals with just a few items once you have the pantry and refrigerator stocked with the basics.
If you are on your way to the grocery store today, I hope you’ll consider building a stockpile of these frugal and healthy foods. Then, see what kinds of frugal and filling meals you can come up. Feed your hungry family and stay within your grocery budget – now won’t that be a great day!
Continue reading Nutritious And Frugal Food Choices That Stretch The Family Budget – Frugal Challenge …
From Hillbilly Housewife Blog.
Molly Goes Camping is HERE!
I am TRULY thrilled with my latest E-Book, Molly Goes Camping! The reviews have been phenomenal. It’s chock full of useful, practical information, money-saving tips and organizational ideas as well as lots of fun and encouraging stories of camping fun, mishaps and mayhem. Just in time for the camping season. What better frugal family bonding activity is there!?
The official description:
Do you long to enjoy and explore the great outdoors with your family?
Want to make that special connection with your kids?
Don’t let a few varmints, mosquitoes, or mishaps spoil your fun—
Go camping!
For the price of spending a night or two in a motel, you can outfit your family for adventure and make memories for a lifetime!
Get ready for an unforgettable experience as Molly and her fellow campers show you how, in her newest E-Book . . .
Molly Goes Camping
Camping can be simple and inexpensive!
There’s no time like now to start living your dreams. Perhaps camping is part of that discovery for you and your family. And you know, vacations don’t have to be expensive! There’s no more frugal way to enjoy a family vacation than what you’ll read about here in Molly Goes Camping.
Don’t miss out on all the fun! Whether you love to camp, are thinking about camping, are afraid to camp, or don’t think you even want to camp—there’s something in this book for you! Be inspired to take a fresh look at the great outdoors, learn some skills for successful camping—and then you decide!
The experiences shared in this book are priceless!
These are real stories, submitted by real Molly readers—typical, bold, fearless camping families—sharing their expertise along with many entertaining and heartwarming stories. But there’s more!
Who is Molly, and what does she know about camping?
Molly Green isn’t a money-saving expert, but she’s a mom just like most of us, trying to learn how to make the most of what she has. She’s been helping the typical homemaker to climb out of the doldrums of today’s economy with her reputable Econobusters.com website and popular, monthly E-Book series: Molly’s Money-Saving Digest.
Low-cost vacations aren’t new to Molly, and you’ll appreciate her thrifty enthusiasm and all the investigative fieldwork she’s done to bring you this unique camping resource.
Be prepared for your next outdoor excursion. Here’s a glance at the wealth of information you’ll find when you order Molly Goes Camping today:
- Why camping is such a great idea.
- A wild but heartfelt collection of real camping tales.
- What-to-do, where-to-stay, and how-to-save camping help.
- The dos and don’ts of camping.
- Fun things to do and practical ideas for camping with kids.
- More than a week of menus and easy campsite recipes.
- Camping with your dog.
- Wildlife facts, first aid, and campsite safety.
- Preparation and organization tips.
- A camping packing list.
- Real family photos.
- Answers to your camping questions.
- Numerous links to helpful websites.
- An extreme RV makeover.
- Camping inspiration, motivation, and more!
Take a look at some of the 23 chapter titles found in the table of contents:
- Pursuit of Perfection: Building Memories From Real-Life Stories
- Living on the Wild Side
- Camping Stew
- Family Camping Mishaps Equal Family Camping Fun
- Camping: Affordable Family Adventures
- Camping: Where to Start, Where to Stay
- Top Ten Ways to Make Enemies of Your Fellow Campers
- Calming the Chaos When Camping With Kids
- Preparing for Camping
- Making the Space Your Own: Remodeling an RV
- Dehydrating: How to Get Started
- “Mom, There’s a Snake Under the Tent!” and Other Infamous Camping Escapades
- Dear Camp Counselor
- Lessons From the Boy Scouts
- Enjoying God’s Nature: Shedding the “Stuff”
- Grandma Anne’s Tried and True Tricks of the Trade
- Feeding My Family While at the Lake
- A Week of Lunch Menus for the Campsite
See why homemakers love the help of Molly Green—take a peek at what’s inside!
No doubt you’ll find that camping, in whatever form you choose, can be the ideal family activity. This awesome resource (73 pages!) will whet your appetite for some frugal family camping fun!
For one low cost—only $8.95—you can begin preparations for your next great family adventure now.
View a sample of this item HERE.
Create a rich heritage of camping memories!
Purchase Molly Goes Camping E-Book NOW!
Continue reading Molly Goes Camping is HERE! …
From Econobusters.
Plan Adventures In State And National Parks – Frugal Challenge
Oh dear. I’m a little behind on this one! Missing opportunities to take advantage of free admission to our state and national parks does not sit well with me.
Many state and national parks offer free admission days, as well as free programs throughout the year.
Most notably, there are a variety of events scheduled around Earth Day, which was observed on April 22nd this year. However, it’s not too late to start planning your fun, frugal family outing for the next free admission days in your state or national park.
My challenge for you today is to make a list of all the frugal fun adventures offered by state and national parks in your region. I’ve found, unfortunately, that if I don’t write down a list of adventure goals, I’ll miss important dates, as I just did.
The following are a few links to get you going. This is by no means an all inclusive reference for websites that will give you the information you need. You can always start by simply searching by “your state park” and, of course, the US National Park Service.
I hope you’ll find at least a couple destinations to take in the splendor of our state and national park systems.
National Park Service – Find A Park By State
Wikipedia – National Parks By State
State Park Directory – Tourist Information Directory
p.s. If you’re still looking for ways to find the best state and national parks available, check out these two books for ideas and contact information so you can start planning your frugal adventures.
Just click on the images to take a peak at what these books have to offer.
Continue reading Plan Adventures In State And National Parks – Frugal Challenge …
From Hillbilly Housewife Blog.
Digests and Dinners on CD!
For those of you who prefer a tangible product over ebooks we have two new items in the store. We have the entire 2009 year of Molly’s Money-Saving Digests on CD as well as our Frugal Family Dinners Combo, both on CD. Click on the covers below for full information. Enjoy!
Continue reading Digests and Dinners on CD! …
From Econobusters.
Frugal Family Fun Blog: Frugal Family Craft Fail: This is awful …
Frugal Family Craft Fail: This is awful, and you should feel bad for doing it. Mark here. With this project, Valerie and the girls were not repurposing all of my stuff but… Things don’t always go according to plan, even at the Frugal …
Continue reading Frugal Family Fun Blog: Frugal Family Craft Fail: This is awful … …
From Frugal Simplicity.
Frugal Family Dinners
In light of my last post, and as a help for all you coupon-phobic ladies out there, I’m offering my blog readers a special coupon code for $2 off my Frugal Family Dinners Combo. The set is already discounted over buying individually, so the extra $2 off makes it a great deal. This way you an save money on meals even without using coupons!
This combo includes Molly Makes $5 Dinners and $3 Desserts and my newest Molly Makes $7 Slow Cooker Suppers. I’m especially thrilled with the Slow Cooker Suppers book, which is PERFECT for this time of year when you’re busy with sports, gardening, yard work etc. It’s so nice to be able to come home and have dinner ready and waiting. I’ve even placed my slow cooker full of shredded BBQ beef in a dish tub in the trunk, along with drinks and hamburger buns and served up a full family dinner while we watched the kids play baseball. A much healthier and less expensive option than fast food, for sure.
Oh! The reasons I’m so pleased with the Slow Cooker book is that it includes actual photos of over half the recipes as well as taste tester comments and suggestions for each and every recipe. This cookbooks is as fun to read and look through as it is to cook from!
To get your $2.00 off, use code FFD2OFF and enjoy!
Continue reading Frugal Family Dinners …
From Econobusters.