Budget Tip - Bake your own Bread

If you and your family eat a lot of bread, that money can stack up, especially if you are buying good quality bread.  Were're talking about $1 homemade vs. $5 store bought for a single loaf.  Making bread at home can be very easy though.  I've been making our own bread for maybe 9 or 10 years.  The traditional method takes quite a bit of practice/experience and trial and error, but I've been thoroughly enjoying the laziness convenience that is the No-Knead method.

My good friend at work got me started with no-knead bread, but YouTuber ArtisanBreadWithStev showed me how simple it really is.  He has a great introduction video that is definitely worth watching.  I'm partial to using a sourdough starter so this is the recipe that I use most often, but when I want to use dry, packaged yeast, I use this recipe.  You can still make a variety of flavors and shapes with the no-knead method, and you don't need any special equipment.

I love that I can control what goes into the bread we eat.  Ours doesn't have any preservatives, unnecessary binders, or other junk.  Obviously it's got a much shorter shelf life than the plastic bagged bread you find at the grocery store, but any extra loaves you make can be stored in the freezer.  And stale bread has it's place in the kitchen too: homemade croutons, breadcrumbs, panzanella, French toast, bread pudding, hello!  

Budget Tip - Shoot for Zero Food Waste

Being a frugality master and having to watch our spending very tightly for the last couple of years, I've developed a pretty good strategy to prevent food waste and therefore budget waste.  Apparently 40% of the food produced in America gets tossed into landfills, and on average, Americans throw away 20 pounds of food per month per person!  After watching an episode of Last Week Tonight with John Oliver on the topic of food waste, I thought I'd put forth my tips on how to save money by throwing out as little food as possible.

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And I'm not talking about eating the leftovers in the back of the fridge that will bring you a nighttime of repentance for pain relief here.   I'm talking about property managing your food stores.  This requires knowing what food you have at home and what food you need before you head to the store.

It doesn't have to be complicated or tedious.  Practically every bit of food that I bring home is consumed.  Here's what has worked for us;

- First eat the foods that are fading:  spotty bananas, softer potatoes, sprouting onions, etc.
- Refrigerate!  I know that fruit looks pretty in a bowl on the counter, but everything lasts longer in the fridge.  You can even store tomatoes and bread in the fridge which are commonly thought of as a no-no.
- Freeze leftovers.  Soups, broths, pastas, casseroles, beans, grains, chilis, and stews store and reheat really well.
- Only open one packaged thing at a time.  You don't need to have 5 boxes of partially eaten cereal, crackers, or cookies.  Open one at a time.  Eat that box completely, then open a different one.
- Use bag clips to seal opened bags.  Clothes pins work just as well.
- If you have a surplus of fruit that you can't eat before it will spoil, wash and cut it.  Place the pieces on baking sheets in the freezer.  When they are frozen, throw the pieces in a freezer bag.
- Minimize leftovers. If you aren't the sort to eat leftovers...I'll refrain from lecturing here...reduce your food waste by cutting recipes in half when cooking at home and ordering lunch portions when going out to eat.
- Label and date your freezer food!  There will be no more guessing as to what frozen thing is what.
- Try to keep a mental inventory of what you have opened.  It's even better to write the opened date on the package so you know when it needs to be used up quickly.
- Keep your fridge and freezer decluttered and organized.  Things will be less likely to be shoved to the back and forgotten.

I hope you find these tips helpful.  They are just small steps to save some money and the planet. :)