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Living Positive with
Less Income
By Sharon Hopper
Senior Scribe
When my husband and I retired a friend told me you will learn how to
live well on less money. You will find that you do not need as much as
you think. Now I have friends who do not need to be concerned with
money or the economy but that is certainly not the situation here. So I
have put on my thinking and practical cap and have discovered a lot of
ways to save a dollar so I have some money to enjoy life with. On the
internet there are lots of suggestions and recipes for “cooking for
two” but I have found that many of them are quite expensive and
require a trip to the store. I have been cooking for many years so let
me help you save a bit in a practical way.
First of all we do not eat as much as we used to eat and smaller
amounts cooked mean less waste. My husband is not a great left over
eater and I just pick at left overs and that is not good either. So I
go to the store and come home and repackage about everything. For
instance a chicken breast weighs about 7 oz. these days. We are
supposed to have only 3 0z. serving of any meat according to my
doctor and all the food “experts”. That means that I can cut a breast
in two and package it with a thigh if preferred and store the
smaller bags in the freezer. A package of 4 breast and eight
thighs will give us eight meals. With lots of veggies, noodles,
or rice, you can have a really nice healthy meal for very little
money. I purchase only frozen or fresh veggies so I can fix
only the amount we need for the meal. Granted if company shows up they
are probably going to miss eating at our table unless expected.
We do a garden and I have not purchased a can or bag of green
beans in years. I freeze tomato sauce and chillie stock. When you cook
them up they taste just like the store bought sauces and freezing
is a snap. I will give you a hint about preparing the tomatoes.
Cook, blend , and re-cook. I run them though the food mill
to remove seeds and unwanted skins after they have been blended
thoroughly. Then I season, bag and store. And much lower in
salt.
One other savings I use is to freeze cake and pies that I make or
purchase into individual servings. I have little plastic
containers that I purchased real cheap and reuse them over and over.
You will be surprised at the money saved when that sweet tooth comes
around. In addition you gain weight control without feeling
guilty. My grandmother was a fugal lady and she always taught us to
waste nothing. Leftovers became some type of soup. Never boring because
the soups were ever changing. Being frugal can save you lots of
money and you can enjoy fun activities more often.
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