Thrifty Tuesday

The last few days have looked much like this.....

Dark and dreary, with snow and blowing snow. It is that time of year when our electric bills get higher and higher since we have electric heat in the back of the house. This type of weather usually throws our budget totally out of wack.

One way of being thrifty at this time of year is to make sure lights are off in rooms we are not in, turn down the heat in our bedroom during the day, keep the heat off in the rooms we do not use and make sure we use everything up.

The one place we have a great deal of control over is the grocery budget and now is the time that control comes in handy. We made a stock up trip to Regina on the weekend, so other than things like milk, dairy, eggs, fresh produce, and fruit there should not be much spending going on.

To improve spending habits at this time of year I think through every purchase and make them count. Anything leftover from a meal is packaged away to be used as the basis of another meal.

Take today for instance. I had a small container of mixed veggies from supper on Sunday and the recipe I planned on making called for 1 1/2 cups of frozen peas (which I only had about 3/4 of a cup of). What to do.... I emptied the container along with what was left of the peas into the mix. Then I did not have Cream of Celery soup (I was sure I had some) so I used Cream of Chicken. Two substitutes in one recipe.

This did not seem to make much of a difference to our casserole. The Tuna Bake was wonderful and piping hot. Perfect for this cold early winter meal.

Harvey and I had generous helpings along with some homemade bread. There is even enough left over for another meal for the two of us. This is packaged up and in the fridge to be used later this week. Cost of the meal...... around $4.30. This works out to $1.08 a person as it serves 4. Got to love a meal that is so inexpensive and yet so tasty.

This winter I am really going to try and keep our dinner menus under $7.00 to make. Wish me luck as I think I may need it.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.