Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Ways I Save...


"I buy my freedom with my frugality".
Vicki Robins--Your Money or your Life

Bacon and Ham
It really is SO much fun for me
to see how far I can make something stretch whether it be money, or food.
It is rewarding to me.

Part of being frugal means you have to deal with handling "meat" or other so-called unpleasant things, but, it feels good to take care of your family and be a
"Pioneer woman".
Women in older times didn't have a choice but to deal with things like this or their families would starve.

SO, I used to feel really good about my frugality, because I used to buy packages of bacon when it was on sale (3 packages for $5.00) and then I would come home and cut the packages in half and then freeze them in quart sized bags.

Well, I have actually reached
a NEW level of frugality in this area...

here is what I do now.

Last spring Tracy and I were shopping and noticed a bag of Bacon Ends and Pieces which was 3 pounds for $3.78.
We decided to try it out and so we came home and repackaged it and ended up with 11 snack sized bags.

We have bought
these on 2 different occasions and they taste great and work really well for flavoring beans and they are yummy to scramble with eggs for making Breakfast burritos, or, Omelette eggs.

Not only are we saving money,
but calories as well

as we are using about half the amount of bacon we would be using if we just cut packages of bacon in half.
We have found that
you don't need much bacon or ham in a bean dish to give it flavor.

The cost of each snack sized bag...
just 36 cents


When making
breakfast eggs, I use
1/2 of a snack bag of either ham or bacon

and so one snack bag will make up two morning egg breakfasts.

I do the same thing with ham.
We usually buy 2 hams during the holidays when they are on sale and cook one at Christmas and then one during the year.

I make a yummy ham dinner and then
cut all of the remaining ham into small pieces and
put it in snack sized bags as well and put them in the freezer.

BTW
...
I can fit all of these snack sized bags in a one gallon freezer bag and so it doesn't take up much space at all to store this in the freezer. I have 2 gallon sized bags (laying flat) in our freezer storing our ham and bacon.

There is
never an excuse to not be able to cook up a bean dish because with these helpful money saving tips that we do, we have everything on hand to make whatever bean or legume dish we decide to cook up.
(OR, my kids Favorite...Omelette Eggs)
************************

I think Benjamin Franklin was wise
in the following statement he made and it really does work.

"Watch the pennies
and the dollars will take care of themselves."

10 comments:

Ann Marie said...

Great ways to save!
I have never seen the bacon ends.. very curious now.

You must have a good size freezer!
We moved out of our large size and into a chest size.. and I am ALWAYS running out of space. When I freeze dinners.. plus freezer jam.. meat.. popsicles.. man.. we are out of room with 2 freezers!

I know your calling ( job ) in the church is inspired with all of the tips and ways you help people. You and Tracy are great examples of living within your means and being frugal!

I wish you lived next door.. even for a day to come and show me how to make a Turkey. I have one in my freezer.. and I need to make it!
I don't dare ask my Mom.. since she's busy with my Dad.. but gosh dang it.. I want to learn how to do a yummy turkey! ~ And I'm SURE you know how. Your a Modern day Pioneer Woman!

Hope your day is great! XO

Suzanne said...

Holy Canoly that is awesome!! WOW!! I never ever thought of freezing bacon or ham! I am just blown away by your genious!! Really? Are you real? Really? Cuz pinch me, you are like a frugal dream come true!

I am still eye balling your potato soup. It is going to be a cold weekend and so I decided to save the recipe for then. Tonight! I'm barbequing! Yeah!

Hope you have a wonderful day! -Suzanne

CreativeMish said...

What a great idea! Thanks for sharing!

Welcome to the Garden of Egan said...

Very wise my frugal friend!
Yummy.
Ya, by the way, how many freezers do you have?
Just curious.

Connie said...

You are so wise! I love saving money and being frugal! You're right, it doesn't take much bacon or ham to flavor beans or omelettes. I have a son who loves going to Golden Corral on the weekends for the breakfast buffet. He talks about a "bucket o' bacon" that he's very fond of! Never been there but I think a bucket is a little too much...unless you're my son!
Thanks for sharing the ways you save. You're a great inspiration for me!

JENNIFRO said...

Your blog has one huge down-side for me...it makes me STARVING!!!! I swear I have been going through all of your posts and just drooling.. You are something to behold! You make life seem easy. You work, cook like a dream, save, have fun with your kids, invent unbelievable ways to make things stretch. I just don't get it! I do get it...since you spell it out so nicely... I'm just lazy I suppose! Wow! I can NEVER let my husband look at your blog..he will be super bummed! I have loved catching up with your past few weeks of posts. They are so upbeat, inspiring, happy and DELICIOUS! I really want to make some of your soups they are making my stomach growl bad right now...and those fudge sundaes, pink cookies and snickerdoodles? .. holy cow..you're killing me! You are one of a kind girlfriend.

BJ said...

That price of bacon is awesome! Where do you find it at? I was like you thinking that 3 lbs for $5 was good. Thanks for all of your great tips.

Cheris said...

That's good to know about the bacon ends!! We get the big packages from Sam's and I package half of it in strips and the other half I cut up into chuncks for pizza's but it have it already cut up and to get more for less than what I pay at Sam's that's AMAZING!!

CB said...

I have never heard of bacon ends before.
It's amazing what is out there!

Small House said...

HEY....Where did you find bacon ends?? I have never heard of this before, but I'm tellin ya, I'd be all over that to! Great idea to throw them in snack bags.

I really enjoy all your tips and strategies!!! Such good ideas. I'm taking notes, and going to use these in Relief Society along with using Sondra's Gilligan theme.

If you ever want to speak to a handful of women in Cache Valley, LET ME KNOW....hahahaha. Just kidding! They'd love you though.

Have a great day.
Sandra